Dueling Shinobi
by Burning Shadow Wolf
Summary: As the Fourth Shinobi World War reached its climax, Naruto was flung forward into the future. Found by Maximillion Pegasus and taught the art of dueling, Naruto leaves for Duel Academy to try and find his way in the world he now finds himself in. Featuring Naruto with an all original deck and rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! First, allow me to apologize for my prolonged absence from writing, I have just been stuck in a rut and unable to write any adequate material for my regular Naruto stories. This idea however, has been swimming around in my mind for some time now and has refused to leave me alone. I am posting this story simply for my own enjoyment, but any and all positive comments or reviews are welcome.**

**I own nothing relating to either Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 1- A Shinobi Amongst Duelists**

In the dark of the night, a lone figure could be seen standing atop the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast ocean below. The figure was obviously male based on the shape and general build of his body. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he let his mind wonder to times long since passed. A little ways away from the figure was a tall man carrying a single lantern. He was wearing a tailored red suit with a white shirt with small ruffles at the neck and end of his sleeves. The light from the lantern reflected off his long, well-kept white hair. "It is almost time for the entrance exams to begin, my boy. Don't you think you should get going soon?" the tone in the man's voice held a natural playfulness to it that masked his cunning mind.

"I suppose you're right, Pegasus," said the shadowed man. His voice was deep and seemed to hold a commanding undertone to it. More than once over the years since his arrival in this new world, his voice had caused many of the females who visited the island too faint at just the sound of it. "It's just going to be difficult adjusting to this new world. Even though I have lived here for two years now, I am still unsure of the world at large. I am the last of a people long thought dead to the world, how will people react when they see the things I am capable of? Will they reject me or welcome me with open arms? Or am I doomed to be nothing more than a weapon to those that believe they are better than me?"

Maximillion Pegasus closed his one visible eye and sighed. He had had this conversation before; it was the reason why the boy had not left his island ever since his arrival two years ago. Though he couldn't exactly blame the boy, with the stories he had been told of the boy's previous life it was no wonder he was wary of those he did not know. But that was why he had pushed for the young man to attend the school one of his business associates, Seto Kaiba, had set up a few years back. Even without his Millennium Eye, he could easily see the hidden power within the boy, the power to create change, not only in the world, but also within people. Even if the young man himself didn't fully understand the depth of that power.

"Naruto," he said after a moment of silence, "I understand why you are hesitant to go out into the world, but you of all people should know that sometimes things are not always as they appear. Even if the whole world rejects you, wouldn't it be worth it to find that one person that does accept you, the one who would never abandon you no matter what? And I am not talking about myself Naruto, I mean that person, or woman I should say, that will except everything about you and still love you the way you deserve to be loved."

A deep chuckle escaped the now identified Naruto as he turned slightly to look at his adoptive father. "You always seem to know just what to say to set me straight. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you still had that old eye of yours underneath all that hair." The two men shared a small laugh together before once more falling silent. Turning back towards the ocean, Naruto looked towards the clear night sky and watched as a shooting star streaked across the heavens. '_'When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew.' I guess it's finally time I started living up to those words, right Jiji? Time for me to find my flame and to watch over the new leaves so that they do not have to suffer as I did.' _Looking at Pegasus one last time, Naruto offered the man a genuine smile, "Thank you for everything you have done for me, Pegasus. I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid."

"Think nothing of it, my boy. You are the closest thing I have ever had to a son, and you will always be welcome here. Now, go show the world what you are capable of, show them that the shinobi will not be so easily forgotten."

"That's exactly what I plan to do," said the young shinobi, "Dattebayo." With that, the last remaining shinobi vanished in a small swirl of wind and leaves.

Pegasus smiled at the spot the young man he saw as a son once stood before chuckling and making his way back to his castle. "I will never get over seeing some of the things that boy can do. I just wish I could learn those things as well. Oh well, now… where did I leave off in Funny Bunny?"

_Kaiba Land- Shortly After_

Hidden by the shadows of the trees, Naruto silently appeared and began a leisurely walk towards the building hosting the Duel Academy Entrance Exams. Along the way, women of all ages watched him with lust shining in their eyes, while men glared at him with jealous fury. He brushed the looks off as he had learned to do at a young age and continued on his way. As he neared his destination, he heard a soft, feminine voice in his mind. _'You know if you actually tried to talk to any of these girls you might just find you like it.' _

Naruto glanced to his right and saw the spectral figure of his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, floating next to him. _'So you keep telling me,' _he thought dryly but a small smirk formed across his lips anyway. _'But like I keep telling you, I don't want to waste my time with fickle, fleeting relationships. If I decide to date someone, I want it to have more meaning than just a passing attraction.' _Kushina sighed, but couldn't keep the happy smile off of her face. She wouldn't have expected anything less from her son; after all, he took after his father in more than just looks.

'_I know, I know, but can you blame a mother for wanting to try and embarrass her only son?' _she asked in a teasing tone before fading from sight. Shaking his head at his mother's antics, Naruto returned his gaze back to the path in front of him and the domed building he was heading towards.

'_Look out Duel Academy, Naruto Namikaze is coming your way.'_

_Duel Academy Registration_

"Well it seems most of our new applicants were quite eager to get tested, there's only a handful that haven't shown up yet," said a female assistant as she sorted through a few files. Her partner nodded silently as she looked over the list of applicants, noting which ones hadn't arrived.

"Well if they aren't here in the next five minutes then we'll just mark them as no shows and call it a day," a man wearing a simple gray suit said as he checked his watch, "No point in wasting our valuable time on delinquents who don't have the courtesy to show up on time."

Both of the desk workers frowned at the hired security guard, but before either of them could voice their objection, the security guard let out a gasp before falling to his knees. A lone figure was walking towards the two shocked women, radiating a small amount of focused killing intent on the guard who was struggling to breathe evenly. "You might want to reconsider that statement of yours," said Naruto as he walked past the guard, ignoring his silent pleas for help, "The deadline for registration does not end until noon, and the last time duel practical's can begin is at twelve thirty. I doubt Chancellor Sheppard or Seto Kaiba would appreciate you purposefully preventing aspiring duelist from their shot at entering the Academy, would they?" Stopping in front of the shocked registration workers, Naruto flashed them his infamous foxy grin, causing the two women to flush scarlet. "Naruto Namikaze, I'm here for my entrance exam."

"R-r-right," stammered one of the receptionists before she made a few marks on her paper and motioned Naruto inside, "You're all set, just go right on in and wait for your name to be called."

"Thank you," he said as he made his way inside, stopping his killing intent as he went, releasing the security guard from his paralyzed state.

Stepping up to the edge of a balcony, Naruto glanced at the three duels happening on the arena floor, before taking note of the people in the stands. Most of them looked about his age and were already wearing their school coats, varying between red, yellow and blue. "Hmph, I never did understand the purpose of separating people into superficial ranks. It doesn't matter what rank you are, anyone willing to put worth the time and effort can become great," he mumbled to himself as he watched a gray haired teen defeat his opponent by destroying his own monster.

He wasn't quite enough though, as a girl with long blonde hair a little ways down from him overheard what he said. Looking away from the duel she had been watching, the girl looked to where she had heard the voice and couldn't help the slight blush that crept onto her face. A lone boy stood at the edge of the balcony her and a few of her fellow Obelisk's were using. He had sun kissed blonde hair that spiked up in every direction with two, chin length bangs that framed his face. She could tell that he hadn't taken his exam yet as he didn't have his Academy uniform with him. Instead, he was wearing a pair of black jeans with a belt that hung off his right hip and high quality leather boots. He also had on a white muscle shirt that clung to his well-defined chest. Over that he wore a dark red haori that reached his ankles with black flames licking the bottom of the coat. He had a black version of the standard issue Duel Academy duel disc with orange accents on his left arm. What caught her attention however was the headband that was tied around the boys left bicep; a metal plate with a strange leaf symbol carved into it shined proudly as the strange duelist continued to watch the duels unfolding below.

"Alexis?" asked a blue haired man a few years older than the girl. He had noticed his companions silence when he tried to ask her something and saw how she was looking at a freshman student standing a short distance away from them.

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts of her new classmate, Alexis turned back to her surrogate brother. "Huh, oh, what is it Zane?"

Zane quirked an eyebrow at Alexis' distracted state and took a more meaningful look at the examinee that had just entered the arena. "I was wondering what you think of your new class mates so far."

"Oh," still trying to get over how Naruto's appearance had affected her, the blonde Obelisk gave a halfhearted reply, "Well I guess their good so far, most of the new blues seem to be snobbier than the ones in your year but I guess I can put up with that for a few years." Knowing that he wasn't likely to get much of anything else out of her, Zane nodded silently and turned back to the dueling fields.

"Naruto Namikaze, please report to dueling field 3, Naruto Namikaze to field 3," a voice said over the speaker system. Most of the chatter around the arena stopped as everyone turned towards the duel field to watch the next duel about to begin.

Naruto heard his name being announced, but couldn't resist the urge to cause a little mayhem. Looking at the field he was going to be dueling on, the blonde shinobi turned duelist, nearly had a heart attack at the sight of his opponent. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?! THAT THING IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY OPPONENT? I CAN'T EVEN TELL IF THAT'S A MAN OR A WOMAN!" His outburst was met with complete silence before almost every student present fell down laughing.

On the dueling field, Doctor Vellian Crowler was turning a very unhealthy shade of purple. _'How dare that two-bit drop out insult me!? I have more skill and experience than anyone at this school; I deserve to be treated with respect!' _Before his thoughts had a chance to be vocalized, an idea came to the transvestite as he quickly replaced the examination deck in his duel vest for his own personal deck. _'I would love to see that slacker beat me when I'm using my own deck. With it, I'll teach him a lesson he won't soon forget.'_

'_You just couldn't resist, could you?' _said Kushina as she appeared next to her son.

'_Of course not, I am your son after all,' _he shot back with a smirk. Kushina smirked as well knowing that he was right, and she would have probably done the same thing where she in his position. Seeing that everyone's attention was now on him, Naruto implemented the second step of his makeshift prank; placing his right foot on the railing, Naruto looked towards a group of blue students and noticed a beautiful blonde haired girl amongst them. Flashing a foxy smirk at her, Naruto pushed off the railing and jumped towards the dueling field. In the stands, everyone screamed and shouted as they watched Naruto begin to fall towards the dueling field with no way of stopping himself.

With a few well timed acrobatics, Naruto silently landed across from Crowler, to the shock of everyone around him. Before anyone had a chance to recover, a large monitor flickered on to show the balding face of Chancellor Sheppard. "Well Mr. Namikaze, I must say that was quite the display. I hope you don't mind me tuning in to watch your duel, after all, it's not every day one gets to see the adopted son of Maximillion Pegasus in action."

Smirking at the collective gasp that rang through the audience Naruto nodded towards Sheppard before turning to face his opponent. "Alright, let's get one thing clear first; I know you switched out the examination deck with your own personal deck and frankly, I don't care. It'll give me more of a challenge anyway. Now, let's begin shall we?" Reaching behind him, Naruto opened one of the two deck cases attached to his belt and slid the cards into his custom duel disk.

Crowler scowled at the boy for revealing he was using his own deck, but inside he was wondering how the hell the boy had managed to do that all the way from the balcony. Sheppard didn't have any outward reaction, but he made a mental note to speak with the head of the Obelisk dorm. Alexis smirked slightly as she watched her newest class mate face down the head of her dorm. "He sure is confident; you think he can back it up? After all, Crowler is using his personal deck."

"I don't know," said Zane, his voice remaining as monotonous as ever, "He does seem to have a since of power around him, but if Crowler manages to bring out that legendary rare card he's had hidden in that deck, there's no telling who could win."

"Wow, Zane," Alexis said as her smirk widened a little more, "I think this is the first time I've seen you unsure about the outcome of a duel. This guy must be good, if he's making even you second guess yourself."

Zane grunted but otherwise didn't answer as both duelists readied their first hands.

"Duel!" Naruto and Crowler shouted at the same time.

Naruto: 4000/Crowler: 4000

"I shall start," said Crowler as his duel vest ejected another card. Placing the new card into his hand the gender confused teacher smirked as he saw he had everything he needed to put Naruto in his place. "And I'll begin by playing the spell card Confiscation, with this I can look at your hand and banish one of your cards to the graveyard at the cost of 1000 life points."

Naruto: 4000/Crowler: 3000

Holograms of Naruto's hand appeared in front of the smirking Crowler, but his smirk soon disappeared when he didn't recognize any of the cards Naruto was holding. "Wait just one minute! I don't recognize any of these cards. I'm afraid you will have to be disqualified for using illegal, unregistered cards. So sorry…"

"Not so fast Crowler," said Sheppard, a frown marring his features, "I have confirmation from Mr. Pegasus and Mr. Kaiba that all of the cards in young Naruto's deck are perfectly legal. In fact they were personally designed for him by Pegasus himself." Once again a collective gasp filled the stands as everyone turned to look at Naruto in amazement. It was widely known that the last person Pegasus personally designed a card for was Yugi Moto. That he had not only personally designed cards for their new class mate, but created an entire custom deck for him was unbelievable!

Grudgingly nodding in understanding, Crowler looked at the cards again and, deciding to play it safe, sent the spell card 'The Will of Fire' to the graveyard. "Now then, I play two cards face down and activate Heavy Storm! This card destroys all other spell and trap cards on the field." A tornado of wind appeared on the field, causing Naruto's haori to bellow back behind him, much to the enjoyment of the females in attendance. Both of Crowler's face down cards shattered into countless particles, only to be replaced by two golden, serpentine like monsters.

"Those face downs were 'Statue of the Wicked' weren't they? You're planning on using those two tokens to summon a high level monster," said Naruto, his voice as devoid of emotion as an Aburame's. That was something he had developed ever since his arrival in this new time. Whenever he was dueling, he would block out all other emotions and thoughts and focus solely on the duel.

"Very good young scholar, there may be hope for you yet," crowed Crowler, "Yes I do plan on summoning a high level monster, and here he is! I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" After the two tokens disappeared, a massive robotic giant made of rusting gears and dented gray metal broke through the ground to stand behind Crowler.

'_**Ancient Gear Golem: Atk 3000/Def 3000, Level 8, Earth Attribute, Machine/Effect- Cannot be Special Summoned. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent. If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step.'**_

"Now I know facing such a rare and powerful monster can be intimidating, but do try and…"

"Is that the best you can do?" asked Naruto, his voice reflecting his boredom. Everyone, even Chancellor Sheppard looked at the boy with wide eyes. "According to everything I know about dueling, it is meant to be a game a strategy, wits and cunning; using even the weakest of monsters to turn the tide of battle in your favor. So far, all you've done is waste your cards summoning that glorified pile of scrap metal, and what good does it do you? You can't attack with it this turn, and by the time you get a chance to use it, this duel will already be over." Sheppard quickly got over his initial shock and was smiling proudly down at the blonde duelist. The boy wasn't even enrolled in the Academy yet, and he was already Sheppard's favorite student.

Up on the balcony, Zane had both of his eyebrows raised; the closest thing to shock that was likely to ever show on his face. Despite that, a smirk could be seen on his face after Naruto had finished his impromptu speech. Ever since he had started the Academy, people had thought he held his title as the 'Kaiser of Duel Academy' because he won his duels using powerful monsters. While his monsters where indeed powerful, they were useless unless one knew how to work the strategies that surrounded the cards. Something this Naruto seemed to understand more than anyone else he had seen at the Academy. "I wholeheartedly approve of your choice for a boyfriend Alexis; he has a good head on his shoulders."

He was expecting a slap to the arm, or a murderous glare as a response to his teasing. What he wasn't expecting was for Alexis to slowly nod with a slightly glazed look in her eyes as she watched Naruto. His haori was still fluttering in the residual wind from Crowler's Heavy Storm and the summoning of Ancient Gear Golem. Just with the way he was standing, arms crossed, face impassive, stance rigid, Naruto gave off an aura that radiated power and screamed 'bad boy' to all of the females present. She was brought out of her daze caused by Naruto's hypnotic voice by someone shaking her shoulder. "Huh, wha...?" looking to the owner of the hand she found a smirking Zane Truesdale. "Sorry, did you say something Zane?"

"Yeah, when's the wedding?" Alexis felt her jaw unhinge slightly at that comment, before her shock was quickly replaced with anger. Smacking her surrogate brother on the arm, the 'Queen of Obelisk Blue' turned away with a huff and focused back on the duel. _'Now there is the Alexis I know. Funny how she didn't deny my question though, something to be used at a later date I suppose.'_

"Now, if the walking fashion reject is finished, I believe it's my turn," said Naruto, drawing the top card from his deck. Without even glancing at it, Naruto placed the card in his hand and selected another. "Let me show you that the level and power of a monster isn't everything in a duel. I summon Genin- Naruto Uzumaki to field in attack mode."

'_**Genin- Naruto Uzumaki: Atk 1000/Def 1000, Level 3, Wind Attribute, Warrior/Effect- When this card is Normal Summoned successfully, you gain two 'Clone Tokens' (Atk 0/Def 0). Once per turn, you can sacrifice a 'Clone Token' to Special Summon a level six or lower Warrior-type monster from your hand. When this monster is sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, you may Special Summon one monster from your hand that has 'Hokage' in its name.'**_

In a small gust of wind, a miniature version of Naruto appeared on the field, wearing the same orange jumpsuit he had once worn. Two copies of the young shinobi appeared next the original, the only difference being that they didn't possess any color and were simply colored in shades of black and gray. "I suppose now would be a good time to explain my monsters effect; when he is successfully normal summoned to the field, I gain two Clone Token's."

"So what; it's not like any of those pathetic monsters have a chance of destroying my Golem." Many students in the audience began to whisper in agreement with the doctor, though a few of the smarter ones could tell their was more to Naruto's strategy than he was letting on.

His patented foxy smirk slowly spread across his face, "Who said anything about destroying your Golem? If you had bothered to let me finish, I could have explained things to you. But since you don't feel like listening, I'll just show you what I mean. I sacrifice one of my Clone Token's in order to special summon Genin- Ino Yamanaka in attack made." A perfect copy of Ino from the time she was a genin appeared to the right of Naruto's younger copy. "Next I'll activate her special effect, by sending her to the grave; I can take control of one of your monsters for three turns."

'_**Genin- Ino Yamanaka: Atk 200/Def 200, Level 2, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Effect- This monster cannot be Normal Summoned or set. By sacrificing this face-up monster from the field, you can take control of one of your opponent's monsters for three turns.'**_

"WHAT!?" screeched Crowler as he watched the purple clad monster form a weird shape with her hands before disappearing. No sooner had she disappeared than did Ancient Gear Golem lumber over to Naruto's side of the field.

"This is how you duel Crowler, with cunning. The monster you wasted so much energy on summoning is the very same monster that is going to finish you off. Now attack Ancient Gear Golem, finish off your former master." Rearing up to its full height, the large machine cocked its right fist back before swinging forward and knocking Crowler back against the wall of the dueling field.

Naruto: 4000/Crowler: 0

As the monsters faded away from existence, Naruto looked up towards the monitor and saw Sheppard clapping. "Well done, Naruto, well done indeed. I believe I speak for all of Duel Academy when I say you have a bright future here. Now as to your dorm…"

"No thanks," cut in Naruto, gaining a raised eyebrow from the chancellor and bringing everyone in the stands out of their funk at seeing one of their own defeating a teacher so easily. "With all due respect chancellor, I won't be staying in any of the dorms for my time at the Academy. You may class me as whatever rank you see fit, but I will not play party to the bigotry and arrogance between the dorms."

"Bigotry? Please explain," said Sheppard, highly interested in what the young duelist was saying.

"Yes, bigotry. Those in the upper class dorms believe that they are above their peers and should be respected, while those in the lower dorms feel that they were cheated and resent the upper dorms because of it. I understand placing people at a certain rank based on their skills, but the system you use to do so is highly biased." Alexis looked down at her new crush, though she would never admit it, with wide eyes. It seems she wasn't the only one who felt that the system used to rank people was unfair, but never in a million years would she have the nerve to tell that straight to the chancellor's face!

"Oh, how is that?" every head in the stands whipped around to face the image of their chancellor. He didn't sound upset at what Naruto was saying, instead he looked like he was actually enjoying the conversation.

"Look at how your dorm gets selected; just because someone comes from a wealthy family and could afford to go to some stupid prep school, doesn't make them a good duelist or better than any of us who didn't. Out of all the dorms, the Ra dorm seems to be the most fair. To get into that dorm you must have good marks on the written exam and defeat your opponent in the practical, a fair requirement. However the Slifer dorm carries the most biased out of all of them; just because someone doesn't have good book smarts, doesn't mean they are an incompetent duelist. In my opinion, people shouldn't be ranked based on a written exam or whether they went to a prep school or not, this is a school for dueling, so rank them on how they duel. I guarantee that if you watched some of the recordings of the duels that happened here today, you'll find some of the so called 'Elite Obelisk's' performed poorly and just barely managed to defeat their opponent, while those 'Slifer Slackers' as I've heard them be called mopped the floor with their opponents."

Silence reigned in the arena as many of the people there looked at Naruto with new found respect and awe, while others were glaring at the person for criticizing their skill. Sheppard had a pensive look on his face as he mulled over the things his new favorite student had said. "Hmmm, well I must say Naruto, you are the first person to ever point it out, but now that you have, I'm inclined to agree with you." A few people in the stands fell out of their seats, to stunned to do anything else, "I'll contact the Board and tell them about this and see if we can get our entrance exams reworked to provide fairness to all students. Now I must ask, since you won't be staying in any of the dorms, would like me to make living arrangements for you?"

Naruto shook his head in the negative, "That won't be necessary; I'll handle my own lodging situation." Though he looked like he wanted to argue, Sheppard nodded his head and wished all of the new students luck before cutting off the monitor. Turning back towards the stands, Naruto jumped over the field wall and landed halfway up the stairs leading to the balcony. Before he had a chance to move, he was surrounded by a bunch of angry Obelisk Blue students. Lazily looking at the eight teenage boys that were around him, Naruto turned to the one he presumed was the leader. "Can I help you gentlemen?"

A boy with uncontrolled spiky black hair and wearing the standard Obelisk Blue uniform stepped up, "Yeah, you can walk out of this arena and forget you ever heard about Duel Academy. This isn't a place for scrubs that got lucky and won their match, only those with real talent are allowed here."

"Noted," said Naruto, "Now if you will excuse me, I have better things to do than listen to you all whine and bitch."

"Why you," growled the black haired boy before he swung his right fist at the blonde. Female screams could be heard as people watched the scene unfold, a few even tried to make it over in time to stop the fight before it could escalate. There attempts were unnecessary as Naruto simply caught the fist in his left hand. Seeing his attacker about try another swing, this time with his left fist, Naruto applied some pressure to the fist he was holding. But a little pressure to a trained shinobi and a little pressure to a civilian were two different things.

A sickening crunch could be heard as the black haired Obelisk fell to the ground, clutching his now broken hand to his chest. Though Naruto felt a little guilty about crushing the guy's hand, seeing as he only wanted to cause his assailant enough pain to stop him from making another foolish attempt at striking him, he was the one who instigated the fight and there were consequences to be paid. Pushing past the rest of the Obelisk's, Naruto took up his former position on the balcony and closed his eyes to wait for the closing announcements.

"Hey," said an angelic voice to the left of him, opening his eyes Naruto saw probably the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. Sure he saw her before his duel, but he hadn't had a chance to get a good look at her. She had long, flowing blonde hair that ended just above her shapely hips and firm round ass. Her eyes were a shade of hazel he had never seen before that held a fiery passion within them. She was wearing the standard issue Obelisk girl's uniform; a white and blue vest that clung to her bodice and strained against her ample breasts along with a blue miniskirt that showed off her perfect legs that seemed to go on forever before vanishing into her blue heeled boats. "Nice duel down there, not many people could have beaten Crowler like that."

"Thank you, though I sense that isn't the full reason why you decided to come talk to me," said Naruto as he turned around and leaned back against railing, his arms crossed over his chest.

"And you'd be right," said Alexis with a small smirk as she crossed her arms under chest, causing her already large breasts to look that much bigger. "I wanted to tell you that not everyone who wears blue at this school is like the guys you just met, and to introduce myself, I'm Alexis Rhodes."

"Naruto Namikaze," he said before his foxy smirk appeared again, causing Alexis to flush slightly, "And I must say it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Rhodes, it's not everyday someone is graced with the presence of one as beautiful as you." The light dusting of red on the queen of obelisk's face quickly grew into a full face blush that would put even Hinata to shame.

Before the blonde goddess had a chance to reply, a voice came over the intercom. "Attention all applicants, to those of you who have passed your exam, please report to the Kaiba Land harbor in two days to catch the boat that will be taking you to Duel Academy Isle. To those who didn't pass, better luck next year. That is all, you're dismissed."

"Well, I guess we better get going then. I hope to see you during the trip Alexis; hopefully we can continue this conversation then." Flashing the still beat red girl one last smirk, Naruto gently pushed off the railing and left towards the exit.

Zane walked over to Alexis and gently shook her shoulder, bringing her back to the land of the living. "Come on Alexis, it's time to get going. You can flirt with your new boyfriend when we get to school." Unlike last time, Alexis' reaction to his little jab was more of what he was expecting.

"SHUT UP ZANE!"

_Duel Academy- Two Days Later_

"It is my great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to our prestigious school!" said Chancellor Sheppard as he stood in front of the assembled freshman. Behind him, the heads of each dormitory stood at attention, each waiting to welcome the new students into their respective dorms. "You all are the best of best, and we expect great things from all of you during your time here! Now, I'll release you into the care of your new dorm headmasters so that you may get yourselves settled in. I wish you all a pleasant evening."

With that dismissal, the students began to filter out across campus towards their respective dorms. All except for Naruto; he had found his way to a secluded portion of the Academy roof, overlooking most of the island. He could easily make out the elegant architecture of the Obelisk Blue dorm to the west, the light of the setting sun casting a glow across the large building. He could also see the comfortable and inviting outline of the Ra Yellow dorm to the east of the Academy building. Also in the east, at one of the farthest points from the main building was the Slifer Red dorm that looked little better than the apartment building he once lived in.

Shaking his head sadly at the obvious favoritism being shown to certain students, Naruto turned towards the forests that covered the island. _'My clones should be about done with the frame work by now. Time to go put the finishing touches on my new home,' _with that thought, Naruto vanished in a swirl of leaves, unaware that certain groups were already looking for him.

_Outside Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm_

"Come on Alexis, we need to find Naruto and offer to let him stay with us for the year!" a girl named Mindy who had glistening black hair held in a ponytail and wearing the standard Obelisk girls uniform said. Beside her, Jasmine, a redheaded girl was nodding in agreement; both of them had far off looks in their eyes as they thought about the Academy's new 'Most Eligible Bad Boy.'

Alexis sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day since arriving on the island. Her two friends had kidnapped her from the welcoming dinner and dragged her out on a search for the mysterious Naruto Namikaze. They had, along with several other girls apparently, gotten the idea that the first ones to find Naruto would be the ones he would stay with during the school year. Though she knew that it was against school policy for boys to stay in the girl dorms, she couldn't deny that she wanted to talk to Naruto again and pay him back for his flirting at the entrance exams.

At the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm, Chazz Princeton, his hand in a cast was leading a small search party to find Naruto Namikaze and show him his place. "When I get my hands on that worthless scrub, I'll make him regret messing with me. Nobody shows up a Princeton and gets away with it."

Crowler saw the group leaving the welcoming feast and easily worked out their objective. With a smirk on his face, he decided to wave the rules about leaving during the welcoming feast and let his Obelisk's have their fun. _'My Obelisk's will put that no good slacker in his place, and if by some miracle he manages to defeat them, I can penalize him for unauthorized dueling. Ah Vellian, you genius you!' _he mentally gushed to himself before focusing back on the feast taking place.

_Duel Academy Forest- Naruto's New Home_

Using his skills developed while learning senjutsu, Naruto stood at the highest point of a tree overlooking the clearing where his new home now stood. Before he had left Pegasus' island, he had made sure to stock up on the materials necessary to build a home for himself. Though he brought enough supplies to build a small mansion, the blonde had decided to keep things modest. A moderately sized two story house stood at the far edge of the clearing, built in the traditional Japanese style. The walls were stained to help the building blend in with the surrounding forests. The tiled roof was covered with foliage he had gathered to help it blend in even more.

'_Naruto,' _a voice in his mind said as the spectral form of his mother appeared floating next to him, _'You have company.'_

"I know," said Naruto, his eyes closed as a reddish-orange pigmentation appeared around them. "I was expecting a few of them ever since the incident at the entrance exams, though the other three are a bit of a surprise." Releasing the natural energy he had gathered, Naruto opened his eyes and turned in the direction he felt the larger group approaching from.

'_How about you use the 'Akatsuki' deck against them? It'll be fun to watch them squirm as they try and fight against it,' _Kushina said, a mischievous glint shining in her in violet eyes.

"Don't insult the strength of that deck mom," the blonde duelist shot back, "You know as well as I that that deck has power that could be comparable to the bijuu. Using it against prideful and arrogant princes like them would be the definition of overkill to the extreme. Besides, I swore an oath after that deck was created; to make sure it never saw the light of day again, and I intend to stand by that oath to my dying breath." Kushina merely smiled at her son, before fading out of sight causing Naruto to sigh. His mother's spirit always enjoyed getting him worked up over the simplest and most obvious things, but he wouldn't have her any other way.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Naruto jumped from his place atop the tree and landed softly on the earth just before his soon to be opponents walked into the clearing. They were in the middle of an argument and didn't notice that they had stumbled upon the reason for their little expedition. That changed as a loud squeal filled the clearing just before two white and blue blurs collided with Naruto's chest. A testament to his previous life, Naruto merely grunted slightly and took a single step back when the blurs, two girls wearing Obelisk uniforms, impacted with him.

Before the two could gather any steam to start babbling away, Chazz's cry of anger brought the attention back to him. "Hey scrub, you and I have a score to settle! I challenge you to a duel, and the winner gets the losers most powerful card!"

"You can't be serious," a familiar angelic voice said as the owner stepped into the clearing. Alexis glared at her fellow Obelisk's as she moved towards her two friends who now had Naruto pinned between the two of them. "You know dueling past curfew is against school policy Chazz, let alone an ante duel. Not even your rich family could keep you from being expelled if the Chancellor found out about it."

That gave some of the guys with Chazz pause as they began to consider the consequences of their actions; however the Princeton heir was not deterred in the slightest. In fact with Alexis and her friends present he was more determined than ever to crush Naruto in a duel. _'Once I beat blondy here, Alexis and those other two will see just how pathetic he is and will beg to be my girlfriend.' _"Fine, if it makes you feel any better, we won't have an ante, but we are still going to duel Namikaze!" To emphasize his point, Chazz deployed his duel disk and slotted his deck using his uninjured hand. "You may have crushed my hand, but I can still duel!"

Shrugging off the girls' hold on him, Naruto stepped up and deployed his duel disk, placing his deck in the appropriate slot, "Duel!"

Naruto: 4000/Chazz: 4000

"Duelists before wannabe's," said Chazz as he drew the top card from his deck. "And to start things off I'll play my Reborn Zombie in defense mode. I'll also set one card face down and end my turn." A monster that had decaying, muscled flesh on its body with the exception of the right arm and a skull with long silver hair appeared kneeling in front of Chazz. The torn clothes hanging off its body fluttered in a nonexistent wind while a card appeared behind it facedown.

'_**Reborn Zombie: Atk 1000/Def 1600, Level 4, Dark Attribute, Zombie/Effect- While you have no cards in your hand and this card is in Attack Position, it cannot be destroyed by battle.'**_

"If that is what you call dueling, I'm not impressed." Drawing a card from his deck, Naruto added it to his hand before choosing another one, "First I'll start by summoning Genin- Naruto Uzumaki." The orange clad genin appeared in a small gust of wind, two blacked out copies appearing on either side of him. "You remember what comes next don't you? I give up one of my tokens to special summon Genin- Sasuke Uchiha." A black haired shinobi wearing a high collared blue shirt and white pants appeared on the field.

'_**Genin- Sasuke Uchiha: Atk 0/Def 1200, Level 3, Fire Attribute, Warrior/Effect- This monster gains attack equal to the attack of any level five or lower monster on your opponents side of the field.'**_

"HA, fat lot of good that will do you, that monster doesn't have a single attack point!" said Chazz between bouts of laughter. The seven Obelisk students with the freshman laughed as well, shooting off a couple of insults of their own. They all stopped laughing at the telltale sound of a monster being destroyed, only to discover that it was Reborn Zombie. "What!? How did you destroy my monster?"

"Simple, thanks to Sasuke's effect, he gains attack equal to that of a level five or lower monster on your side of the field," began Naruto, only to be interrupted by the angered Obelisk.

"But that was still only 1000 points; you couldn't have destroyed my Zombie!"

"Unless I played this," Naruto drawled out as he motioned to a spell card face-up on his field. Chazz finally noticed the card and scowled at the image of a strange red eye on it. "It's a spell card known as The Birth of the Sharingan, and it gave my monster a little extra boost."

'_**The Birth of the Sharingan: Equip Spell- This card can only be equipped to 'Genin- Sasuke Uchiha.' Send one monster you control to the graveyard and increase the attack of the equipped monster by 1000 points.'**_

"It cost me my final Clone Token, but it was worth it. Now it's time for my other warrior to strike. Go Naruto, Uzumaki Barrage!" The monster crossed his fingers in his signature cross-shaped seal and three more copies of the monster appeared. The four blondes surrounded Chazz before they each delivered a powerful kick to the blue clad duelist.

Naruto: 4000/Chazz: 3000

"Ugh, it's my move," drawing his card with a scowl on his face, Chazz glanced at it before placing it in his monster zone. "I summon my Chthonian Soldier in attack mode and I'll have him attack that orange reject." A bulky monster wearing a silver helmet and silver, platted armor on his chest, arms and legs appeared on the field. It brandished a large silver broadsword in its right hand as it leapt towards the blonde monster and sliced it in half.

'_**Chthonian Soldier: Atk 1200/Def 1400, Level 4, Dark Attribute, Warrior/Effect- When this card is destroyed by an opponent's attacking monster and sent to the graveyard, the Battle Damage you took from this battle is also inflicted to your opponent.'**_

Naruto: 3800/Chazz: 3000

Naruto didn't even flinch as his life points barely dropped, in fact he was smirking. "Thanks Chazz," he said, confusing everyone else in the clearing, "Whenever Genin- Naruto Uzumaki is destroyed I can special summon a monster with 'Hokage' in its name from my hand. So say hello to my Sandaime Hokage- Hiruzen Sarutobi!" the aged kage appeared with a short spin before landing and assuming a battle stance. He was garbed in his full black body suit with a gray armguard on his right arm.

'_**Sandaime Hokage- Hiruzen Sarutobi: Atk 2700/Def 2500, Level 7, Fire Attribute, Warrior/Effect- This monster gains 300 attack and 200 defense points for every 'Genin,' 'Chuunin,' and 'Jounin' monster on the field. During your standby phase you can send this card to the graveyard to special summon one 'Yondaime Hokage- Minato Namikaze' to the field.'**_

"Thanks to his ability, his attack increases to 3000." A light blue aura enveloped the Sandaime as his attack power rose. Chazz swore under his breath but ended his turn, knowing his facedown would keep him safe for at least another turn. "Now to end this," drawing a single card from his deck, Naruto placed it in his hand and grabbed another one. "I activate the spell card Shadow Shuriken Jutsu. With this, I can discard two cards to the grave to destroy all of your spell and trap cards." Placing two of his three cards in the grave, countless shuriken appeared and lodge themselves in Chazz's face down, destroying it in a shower of light particles.

'_**Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu: Normal Spell- Activate only when 'Sandaime Hokage- Hiruzen Sarutobi' is face-up on the field. Discard two cards from your hand and destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field.'**_

The Princeton heir watched on in horror as his only chance of surviving was destroyed. He barely registered Naruto ordering his monsters to attack, or his life points dropping to zero, he was too shocked that he had been defeated, and by someone who wasn't even part of a dorm! The other male Obelisk's weren't fairing much better, and they showed it by grabbing Chazz the second the holograms faded away and quickly fleeing back to their dorm.

Turning to his remaining company, the shinobi turned duelist was met with two starry-eyed girls and a smirking Alexis. He offered them a smirk of his own, "Enjoy the show ladies?" Jasmine and Mindy swooned at the sound of his voice while Alexis' smirk got a little wider.

"I knew you were good after your duel with Crowler, but I can safely say that when word gets out about your win tonight, you will be considered the unofficial 'King' of the freshman class." Naruto raised an eyebrow in a silent gesture for her to continue, "Look, Chazz may be an elitist snob, even among the Obelisk's, but he is considered one of the best in our class. Almost all of the freshman already hold you in high regard, when they learn you beat the second best Obelisk in our year they're bound to start calling you 'King' or something like that."

"You sound like you have experience with this," said Naruto, crossing his arms over his chest, "And if Chazz is second, then who's the best Obelisk in our year?" The challenging smirk on his face told the three he was well aware of who it was.

Alexis' smirk widened even further as she flipped her hair over her shoulder in the perfect show of an arrogant princess. "Well I'm not known as the 'Queen of Obelisk Blue' for nothing. I do know my way around a deck; I'd be happy to show you sometime."

"I'd be delighted, but I'll have to take a rain check." Stifling a yawn, Naruto removed his custom duel disk and held it loosely at his side. "It's late, and tomorrow is our first day of class; we'll need all the rest we can get. So this is where I bid you lovely ladies goodnight." Alexis couldn't completely hide her disappointment, but she understood his reasoning. With 'good nights' all around, including a longer than necessary hug from Jasmine and Mindy, the four parted ways for the night.

**There's the first chapter. I will go ahead and tell everyone in advance that, yes, I have personally designed Naruto's original deck. I also have ideas for two other original decks that will appear later in the story. If anyone wants to take a crack at designing a deck of their own, I am open to any village related decks and ideas. Naruto may not, use them, but if I get to the point where other Naruto characters might appear in the story, they might use them.**

**See you all soon,**

**BSW**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapters up and ready, enjoy.**

**A few people have asked me about Jaden, and I'll say that he will play a roll in the story, but not for some time. Also, my invitation for any cards or deck designs still stands. I'm interested in seeing what others can come up with besides myself.**

**I don't own Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 2- The Existence of Chakra and Shadows**

The first month at Duel Academy passed by relatively quickly. True to Alexis' prediction, word of his victory over Chazz spread like wildfire, courtesy of Jasmine and Mindy. Most of the student body already referred to him as the new 'King of the Academy,' if not for his dueling prowess, then for his unbiased views of his fellow students. He had already won over the majority of the Slifer's at the entrance exams, and those that were still skeptical of him quickly accepted him when he spoke up against Crowler in the defense of Syrus Truesdale, a Slifer in his year. He saw a lot of himself in the young duelist and ever since the incident in Crowler's class; he had taken him under his wing. The Ra's were a similar case; the more senior students respected the dueling streak he had acquired shortly after his duel with Chazz. The younger ones respected both his skill as a duelist and the fact that he was a fair and just person.

His relationship with the blue dorm on the other hand was, in a word, horrible. Other than Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine and the members of his new fan club, the Obelisk Blue's avoided him like the plague. Treatment he was all too glad to return, if they couldn't get over themselves than he didn't want anything to do with them. The situation was only made worse by the fact that he had been challenged by no less than ten Obelisk's during the month; all of whom he had soundly defeated.

The students weren't the only ones he had made strong impressions on either. Almost instantly, he had risen to become the top student in all of his classes, rivaling the top student and duelist on the island, Zane Truesdale. He may have been Chancellor Sheppard's favorite student before he set foot on the island, but the minute he walked into their classes, he became every teacher's favorite student, with an obvious exception in the form of Dr. Vellian Crowler. During his first class, the good doctor had tried to backtrack and persuade Naruto to join the Obelisk dorm by praising him and trying to boast him up by insulting and degrading a few of the lower ranking students, namely the Slifer's. Needless to say, that plan backfired on him spectacularly.

He had also started a heated, but friendly rivalry with the genius of Ra Yellow, Bastion Misawa. The young genius had sought him out, wishing to study a deck hand crafted by Pegasus. He had politely refused, but offered instead to duel him so he could learn about his deck from firsthand experience. After their first duel, you could always find the two either in a heated discussion about different strategies or dueling against one another.

Currently Naruto was watching a duel between Syrus and Bastion with Alexis at his side. The four friends made a strange mix to most outsiders; a 'Slifer Slacker,' the Ra genius, the 'Queen of Obelisk Blue,' and the first student in history to refuse joining a dorm. "Water Dragon, attack Syrus directly," cried Bastion as his mighty beast reared back and launched a literal torrent of water at the Slifer duelist.

Syrus fell to one knee as his life points dropped to zero, a dejected look on his face, "Damn it, I lost again."

"Cheer up Syrus," said Naruto as he walked up to the blue haired teen, "You performed admirably in that duel. You nearly had Bastion cornered a couple of times, something not many people can claim to have done."

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled as he stood to his full height, just barely reaching Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto is right Syrus; you almost beat me a fair amount of times. All you need is more practical experience and to have more faith in yourself and you will be an outstanding duelist one day." The two blondes nodded in agreement Bastion's statement, which made Syrus stand just that much straighter.

Glancing up towards the sun to check the time, Naruto began walking towards the Academy, "Come on guys, we have class with Professor Banner in ten minutes." The three quickly checked the time and their eyes widened as they rushed to catch up with the powerful blonde duelist.

"I don't know how you do it Naruto," said Bastion as they entered the main building on the island, "How is it that you possess such an ancient skill as reading the suns position in the sky? On top of that you always seem to know everything going on around you and your physical prowess in gym class is insane! If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trained as some kind of warrior or something." Alexis and Syrus chuckled slightly at Bastion's comment. None of them noticed the slight stiffening in Naruto's posture, or the tiniest pause as he took his next step. Forcing himself to relax, the blonde shinobi put a small smirk on his face.

"Just a few things I picked up in the past," he said, hoping to forestall any other questions until they reached Banner's class.

His hopes were for not as Alexis spoke up, "That's another thing you do; you always tell us it's something you picked up in the past whenever we ask you about stuff like this. We're friends Naruto; you know you can tell us anything."

"I know Alexis," sighing, Naruto turned to look at his three companions, "It's not that I don't want to tell you guys about myself, but my past wasn't exactly a happy or easy one. I will tell you about it one day, but I'm just not ready to relive some of the pain again." That gave his friends pause. They knew that Naruto acted strange sometimes and had unusual skills that no one in this day and age possessed, but they had assumed that he learned them because he wanted to learn them. But if they were interpreting his words correctly, he may have been forced to learn them for survival. They just hoped they were wrong.

As the quartet were taking their seats for Banner's alchemy class, in his office, Crowler was trying to find a way to get revenge against Naruto for defeating him and embarrassing him in front of the entire freshman class. "How dare that slacker Naruto make a mockery out of me, especially in front of my class like that? Adopted son of Pegasus or not, I will not allow that brat to spend one more day at MY school!" Getting out from behind his desk, the headmaster of the blue dorm began to pace around his overly decorated office. "Now, the only question is how to go about expelling him? As much I hate to admit it, the brat is one of the top students and duelists on the island. So I can't do anything to him from an academic stand point, but what about if he broke one of the schools largest rules? Yes, that's it, now I just have to set it up for him to get caught in the act."

The doctor stopped in front of his large window overlooking the Obelisk dorm in the distance. A flash of light caught his eye as the sun's rays reflected off of the windows of the Obelisk girl's dorm further off on the island. Crowler's eyes lit up with joy as an idea formed in his mind, "That's it! If Naruto were to get caught sneaking into the girls dorm, the fat oaf wouldn't have any other choice but to expel the brat! It's perfect, and I know just how to lure him there." Giggling to himself, he set back behind his desk and began to write a letter. Sealing the note in an envelope, Crowler pulled out a tube of red lipstick and kissed the back of the envelope. "Soon Naruto Namikaze will be expelled and I'll have one less slacker to deal with."

_Time Skip- Three hours later_

"Man Naruto, how the hell can you have so much energy and stamina?" asked a sweating Syrus as he sat down on one of the benches in the locker room. Bastion did the same as the two tried to regain their breathing. Naruto, who didn't appear to have broken a single sweat during the intense gym class, just chuckled as he opened a locker and pulled his usual clothes out to change into.

"I've always had great stamina and compared to the things I used to do as a workout, this is nothing," he said as he quickly changed into his usual attire. "By the way, thanks for letting me share your locker Bastion. It still pisses me off that Crowler refused to allow me one since I'm not in one of the dorms."

"No problem Naruto, it's the least I can do after everything you've taught us this past month. That reminds me…" While the two boys started another discussion about different strategies and deck styles, Syrus opened his own locker to change. What he found was a white envelope with a kiss mark on it on top of his shoes. Instantly blushing, the Slifer discreetly opened the letter and skimmed through it. _'This is a love letter to Naruto from Alexis! Wait, she knows Naruto shares a locker with Bastion so why would she leave it in mine? I better check this out and make sure it's not a setup of some kind to get Naruto in trouble.' _His mind made up, the blunette slipped the letter into his jean pocket and left the locker room for his dorm to work on his homework and wait for night to fall.

_Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm- Shortly Before Midnight_

Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine were soaking in the hot tub their dorm had, relaxing from their day of classes. Mindy and Jasmine were, as usual, talking about Naruto and the different ways they could try and get him to fall in love with them. Alexis merely tuned the two of them out as she thought back to what Naruto had said earlier. _'What could have happened to him that was so painful? Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like he's fully recovered from it. I just hope that when he finally tells me, there's something I can do to help him.'_

She was brought out of her thoughts by a commotion outside followed shortly by a scream, a _male scream. _The three Obelisks' instantly reached for their robes, their faces red with righteous fury that some boy was trying to sneak into their dorm. When they got outside, they saw a downed Syrus Truesdale with swirls in his eyes. "Syrus? What the hell are you doing here? You know no boys are allowed in the girl's dorm after curfew," said Alexis as Mindy and Jasmine grabbed the small teen and tied him up using some spare towels.

Shaking his head to get rid of his lingering dizziness, the Slifer Red began his explanation. "I know that Alexis, the reason I'm here is because I found a note in my locker. It was a love note addressed to Naruto from you."

"I never wrote a love note to Naruto," said Alexis, fighting down the small blush that crept across her features as her mind wondered to a scene involving her and Naruto straight out of some romance novel.

"That's what I thought," sighed the bound duelist, "That's why I decided to come myself; to make sure it wasn't some kind of setup to get Naruto in trouble, but it looks it was a setup. The second I walked past the gate, some guy dressed in a black suit took a picture of me. That's why you girls found me on the ground."

Alexis looked like she believed the story, but Mindy wasn't going to buy it so easily. "I don't believe him, I say we turn him in for trespassing." Jasmine nodded her agreement with Mindy, but before the two could go get Ms. Fontaine to turn Syrus in, said boy pulled the letter out of his pocket with some difficulty.

"If you don't believe me, then here, this is the note I'm talking about." Taking the piece of paper from him, the three girls read over the letter before Mindy and Jasmine apologized for not believing him. "So can you let me go now? Naruto and Bastion agreed to help me with my dueling again in the morning."

"Syrus," began Alexis, "I understand your reasons for being here and I'm glad you'd be willing to put yourself at risk to help Naruto, but that doesn't change the fact that you still broke one of the schools biggest rules." The blunette lowered his head in defeat, knowing he was most likely going to be expelled before the end of the night. "But," Syrus, Mindy and Jasmine's heads snapped towards Alexis and saw her smirking, "I think we can overlook that since you just gave me the perfect reason to cash in a rain check Naruto owes me." The other two girls present eyes' widened as they figured out what Alexis had in mind and immediately ran back into their dorm to make themselves look as good as possible for Naruto. Syrus looked confused but decided he could figure it out later as he seemed to be in the clear for the most part.

_Naruto's Home_

Standing on top of his recently built home at Duel Academy, Naruto gazed up towards the stars, once again thinking of his previous life. It was a habit he had developed upon his arrival in this new world. At least once every week, he would stay up into the wee hours of the night and allow his mind to remember those whose spirits now resided in his deck. _'Everyone, please forgive me,' _he thought as a single tear rolled down his face as his last moments in his time played over in his minds eyes.

'_Naruto,' _said his mother as she appeared next to him, _'You must learn to move on from the past. I know you cared deeply for everyone, but you must except that they are no longer with us and look towards the future.'_

"I know," said the blonde, "But it's difficult, I don't think I can handle all of this on my own."

'_Then tell someone, you may have just met them a short time ago, but your friends care for you Naruto. You should tell them the truth about yourself son, they will not abandon you and they can help you through this. Especially Alexis, I doubt she's even fully aware of it yet, but her feelings for you go far beyond those of a friend.'_

"WHAT!? Mom Alexis and I are just friends! Quit making things up to try and mess with my head!" Kushina was about to retort, but a vibration in Naruto's pocket stopped her before she had a chance. Pulling out his PDA, Naruto skimmed through the new email before closing it with a heavy sigh. "I'm going to have a talk with Syrus after this, but I guess I better go get his ass out of trouble first."

'_What? What's happened with Syurs?'_

"Wouldn't you like to know?" teased Naruto as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving his mother's spirit fuming at being left out of the loop. A few moments later, Naruto appeared just outside of the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm. Silently making his way around back, he spotted Syrus tied up with Mindy and Jasmine on either side of him and Alexis standing in front of them, a duel disk on her arm. "Ok, before you cash in that rain check Alexis, can I get the full story about what's going on?" Syrus then explained about the love note and how he thought it might be a trap so he came in Naruto's stead, with the girls jumping in after he got to his arrival at the dorm. "While I appreciate the gesture of loyalty Sy, next time something like this happens, let me know and we'll come up with a plan that hopefully doesn't end with someone being held captive by their friends." Turning to his soon to be opponent, Naruto slotted his deck and deployed his black and orange duel disk, "You ready Alexis?"

"I'm always ready to duel," she said as she deployed her own disk. "Duel!"

Naruto: 4000/Alexis: 4000

"Ladies first," said Naruto with a wave of his hand.

"That's very gentlemanly of you Naruto," said Alexis as she drew her card. Placing it face down in her spell/trap card zone, she chose another card and summoned it to the field. "I play one card facedown and then I'll summon Etoile Cyber in attack mode." A beautiful woman with long auburn red hair that reached her waist and wearing a red, skin tight suit appeared on the field. She had a silver skirt around her waist that was open in the front along with silver ribbons loosely wrapped around her arms.

'_**Etoile Cyber: Atk 1200/Def 1600, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Effect- If this card attacks your opponent directly, it gains 500 attack during the Damage Step only.'**_

"I end," said Alexis as Naruto drew his card silently. Placing the new cards in his hand, Naruto grabbed another and placed it in his middle monster card zone.

"You've seen my Genin monster in action, so I think it's time I introduced you to the next level. I summon Chuunin- Hinata Hyuuga in attack mode," dressed the same way she was during the war, the lavender eyed girl appeared on the field in a flash of light. She instantly slipped into the feared Jyuuken stance as her Byakugan activated.

'_**Chuunin- Hinata Hyuuga: Atk 1700/Def 1700, Level 4, Light Attribute, Warrior/Effect- This monster gains 400 attack points whenever there is a monster with 'Naruto' in its name face-up on the field. If 'Chuunin- Shino Aburame' is on the field you can special summon this card from your hand. When this monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, you can special summon one 'Naruto- Sage of Myouboku' from your deck or hand to the field in attack mode.'**_

"I'll play one card face down and now Hinata, attack her Etoile Cyber!" All too happy to comply with her crushes order, Hinata charged the red clad monster and prepared a palm strike to destroy it.

"I don't think so," said Alexis as her facedown revealed itself, "I activate my trap card, Doble Passe! With this, your monsters attack is turned into a direct one." Etoile Cyber jumped over Hinata and the Hyuuga Heiress struck Alexis with a palm to the stomach. The Obelisk groaned as her life points dropped, but she smirked as Etoile Cyber landed in front of a surprised Naruto and kicked him in the face.

Naruto: 2300/Alexis: 2300

"Ok, mind explaining why I was just hit with a spin kick?" said Naruto as he massaged his jaw. _'Her monsters attack caused me physical pain, I guess that theory I developed with Pegasus was right. I'll have to step in and train her to properly use her power before she accidently injures someone.'_

"Simple, Doble Passe not only turns your monsters attack into a direct one, it allows my monster to attack you directly as well…"

"And since Etoile Cyber attacked me directly, her attack went up by 500," finished Naruto as he ended his turn.

"You catch on quick Naruto," smiling as she drew her card, Alexis looked at it and her smile got that much wider. "Now I summon my Blade Skater in attack mode, but she won't be around for long because I activate Polymerization to fuse her with my Etoile Cyber." A portal opened behind the two monsters and sucked them into it as a new monster stepped out, "Say hello to my Cyber Blader." The new monster looked similar to Etoile Cyber in many ways, except her hair was longer and had become a dark shade of blue and her suit was purple with red around certain areas that looked like flames. She also had skates on her feet and two long, red protrusions coming out of her shoulders with a red visor over her eyes.

'_**Cyber Blader: Atk 2100/Def 800, Level 7, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Fusion/Effect- "Etoile Cyber" + "Blade Skater." A fusion summon of this card can only be conducted with the above fusion material monsters. While your opponent controls only 1 monster, this card cannot be destroyed by battle. While your opponent controls only 3 monsters, negate the effects or your opponent's spell, trap, and monster effects.'**_

"You know what come's next right Naruto?" when he didn't answer, Alexis smirked, "My Cyber Blader attacks!" The new monster jumped into the air and brought one of its skates down, slicing the Chuunin in half.

Naruto: 1900/Alexis: 2300

The instant Hinata vanished from the field; the wind around the two duelists picked up and formed a small tornado around them. Their three person audience watched with wide eyes as the vortex engulfed their two friends. "What's happening!?" shouted Jasmine over the wind. Neither Mindy or Syrus answered, they were too busy holding onto one another to prevent getting blown away by the wind.

Inside the tornado, Alexis was looking around frantically, wondering how this happened. "I should thank you Alexis," called Naruto over the wind, "By destroying Hinata, you allowed me to activate her special ability."

"What ability is that?" she shouted back as the tornado surrounding them decreased in size and formed a vortex on Naruto's side of the field.

"The ability that allows me to summon one of my favorite and most powerful monsters," a human shaped shadow appeared inside the small twister as Naruto placed a card in his monster zone. "Come forth, Naruto- Sage of Myouboku!" the shadow within the tornado raised its arm and swiped it to the side, dispelling the tornado around it. What greeted everyone was a monster that was almost an exact copy of Naruto himself. The monster had the same hair style and wore the same haori as the blonde duelist, but it wore an orange and black jumpsuit under that along with toeless black sandals. It also had the same headband as the blonde; except it wore it's proudly on his forehead. The biggest difference though, was its eyes; instead of the deep sapphire pools Naruto was known for, his monsters eyes were a striking yellow with a bar shaped pupil. It also had some kind of orange pigmentation around its eyes that gave it an intimidating stare.

'_**Naruto- Sage of Myouboku: Atk 3000/Def 2600, Level 8, Wind Attribute, Warrior/Effect- This monster cannot be special summoned except by using the effect of 'Chuunin- Hinata Hyuuga.' This monster gains 200 attack points for every Warrior type monster face-up on the field. Should this card attack a defense position monster, inflict the difference between this cards attack and the targeted monsters defense as damage to your opponent.'**_

"That's not all though, since you destroyed a Warrior type monster, I can activate my trap card, Avenging the Fallen."

'_**Avenging the Fallen: Normal Trap- When a Warrior type monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you may special summon a level 5 or lower Warrior monster from your hand.'**_

"Allow me to introduce you to my second Chuunin monster, Chuunin- Rock Lee." The eccentric, spandex wearing shinobi appeared with a strange battle cry. His flak jacket was left open and a 'youthful' fire was burning in his eyes. "Thanks to my Sage's effect, he gains 200 attack points for every Warrior on the field, and I count three."

**Naruto- Sage of Myouboku: 3600**

'_**Chuunin- Rock Lee: Atk 2200/Def 1400, Level 5, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Effect- Whenever a Warrior type monster is summoned to your side of the field, this monster gains a 'Gate Token,' maximum 8. This monster gains 100 attack points for each 'Gate Token' placed on it. However, the person who controls that card losses 100 life points every time a 'Gate Token' is placed on this card. Once per turn, you can removed two 'Gate Tokens' from this card to prevent taking battle damage.'**_

"Damn it," muttered Alexis as she looked at her hand but didn't see anything that could help her out of this situation. She knew she had lost but if she was going to lose, it wouldn't be because she surrendered, "I end my turn."

"My go," the male blonde didn't even look at the card he drew as he pointed towards the defenseless Cyber Blader. "Rock Lee, attack her Cyber Blader with Front Lotus!" The spandex wearing monster disappeared in a burst of speed, only to reappear underneath Alexis' only monster and deliver a strong upward thrust kick that sent the monster skyward. As soon as the female warrior reached the peak of her flight, Lee appeared underneath her and locked his arms around her before spinning into a dive. The impact easily destroyed Cyber Blader with Lee appearing back on Naruto's field with not even a scratch on him.

Naurto: 1900/Alexis: 2200

"Now my Sage, end this duel!" Naruto's replica nodded once before forming a swirling ball of chakra above its head. The attack grew in size till it was the size of an average human. Jumping into the air, the Sage brought his attack forward and slammed it into Alexis, ending the duel.

Naruto: 1900/Alexis: 0

Despite her loss, the Obelisk Queen smiled as Naruto walked up to her and offered her a smile of his own. "That was a good duel Alexis; we'll have to do that again sometime; though hopefully under better circumstances." Alexis giggled slightly at her friend's remark and turned to tell Mindy and Jasmine to untie Syrus. A hand on her shoulder stopped her and she felt a pair of lips near her ear, "Come by my place tomorrow, there is something I need to talk to you about." She shuddered slightly when she felt Naruto's hot breath making her skin tingle in excitement.

Nodding slightly, she looked over towards their audience and motioned for Syrus to be let go, her voice having failed her for the time being. Mindy and Jasmine quickly untied Syrus and immediately set upon Naruto, both of them trying and failing to flirt and seduce him. Alexis felt a tightening in her gut as she grabbed her two friends by the ear and pulled them off of her fellow blonde.

"OW, Alexis let go!" they screamed as they were dragged away.

"Not until you girls learn to stop shamelessly flirting with every cute boy you see," snapped Alexis as she started pulling her friends back towards their dorm. "Goodnight Naruto, Syrus, I'll see you later," she shouted over her shoulder as she disappeared inside her dorm.

Chuckling to himself, Naruto turned and motioned for Syrus to follow, "Come on Sy, we better get going before security shows up. Besides, I think we could both use a goodnights rest after this little adventure." The Slifer student nodded in agreement and followed Naruto away from the girl's dorm before setting off towards his own dorm.

_The Next Day_

It was a little after noon in Naruto's home, and the blonde duelist was giving Syrus tips as he reworked his deck. Bastion, who had joined them for the day, would occasionally toss out a comment of his own, but for the most part he was engrossed in working on a deck he was certain would be the perfect counter to Naruto's deck. "Hey Naruto," asked Syrus, turning away from his deck for a minute, "How come you never try and rework your deck to improve it? I know it's not like you really need to, but aren't you worried that using the exact same cards would get a little predictable and let someone counter you that much easier?" Bastion stopped working on his new deck as well when he heard Syrus' question. It was something he had been wondering as well ever since he became friends with the mysterious blonde.

Naruto, sitting in a meditative pose across from the two, didn't as much as twitch, as he answered. "While it's true that changing ones deck around can prevent others from discovering your strategies and developing counters to it, it is not necessary. If you can truly become one with your cards and let your spirit guide them, no one will be able to defeat you." The two friends shot each other a confused look, but shrugged it off and went back to working on their decks. In his mind, Naruto chuckled to himself as he knew that his cryptic answer only confused the two even more. It would take time, but he knew that eventually, they would come to understand the meaning of his words.

Thanks to the small amount of natural energy he had gathered, he easily felt the approach of Alexis' chakra through the forest. Now that he actually took the time to properly sense the depth of her power, he was surprised that she had chakra levels comparable to a seasoned chuunin. But her chakra was different than normal, it felt darker and unbalanced. _'The only way chakra should be this dark and unstable is if there is not enough Yang present to counterbalance the Yin attributes. I guess that's why Pegasus referred to it as the power of the Shadows. In this time, those with larger amounts of chakra don't seem to have enough physical and life energy to properly balance and control the darker part of their power.'_

Deciding to check his two companions' power levels while he was at it, Naruto was once again pleasantly surprised to find that they too had largely above average chakra levels for modern humans. While not quite on the scale of Alexis, the two still possessed power similar to a trained genin or rookie chuunin. _'If their chakra levels get any higher, I'll have to start training them to wield their power correctly as well, for now though, I'll focus on Alexis. With her reserves already so large, it's only a matter of time before an innocent ends up hurt because she couldn't control her power.'_

Just as he finished his thought, a knock was heard on the front door followed by a female voice in the hallway. "Naruto, it's me, Alexis."

"In the living room, Alexis," called Naruto as he ended his meditation and got up to meet his new guest. The dirty blonde haired girl appeared in the archway and smiled when she saw her favorite blonde duelist was waiting for her. After a few quick greetings between his three visitors, Naruto gently nudged Alexis towards the steps. "Hey guys," he said, catching Bastion and Syrus' attention, "There is something I need to talk to Alexis about. We'll be back in a little bit alright?"

"No problem Naruto, we're just going to finish up our decks and have a few duels to test them out," said Bastion as he went back to work on his newest deck. Syrus nodded in agreement with the Ra genius, not even looking up from his cards. Naruto nodded with a small smile as he turned and lead Alexis up the stairs.

He may be the only resident, but when he built the house, he had added in a few extra rooms in case of emergencies. Walking past the four spare bedrooms, Naruto led his fellow blonde to the door at the end of the hallway and slid it open for her to step in. Alexis could safely say that the room that greeted her was not exactly what she was expecting. Like the houses exterior, the room was set in the traditional Japanese style; the door was positioned on one of the room's corners, giving her a good view of the room as a whole. The room was slightly larger than the Obelisk dorm rooms, but it had much more open space then them. A low sitting, queen sized bed was placed in the far corner of the room with a forest green comforter on it. The bed was positioned under the only window in the room allowing the sunlight to cast a welcoming glow around the room. On the wall across from the foot of the bed, were two more sliding doors, spaced about six feet apart. One she assumed was the closet while the other was probably a bathroom. Stepping further into the room, she noticed several shelves on her right holding numerous kinds of weapons. "Whoa," was the only thing she could say as she looked around the room, feeling as though she had just traveled into the past.

Chuckling slightly, Naruto slid the door closed and stepped around his slightly dazed guest. "So I take it you like my room?" Alexis nodded mutely as she continued to take in her surroundings. To many people the room looked like it should belong in some low class motel given its scarcity of furniture, but to Alexis, it just felt right, like changing even the tiniest thing would ruin it. Leaving his shoes by the door, Naruto walked over towards his bed and sat down to wait for Alexis to get over her dazed state. He didn't have to wait long as the Obelisk queen soon shook herself out of her stupor and moved to join Naruto, leaving her heeled boats at the door.

"So what was it you needed to talk to me about?" she asked as she pulled her legs underneath her and leaned back against the wall. Naruto crossed his legs and clasped his hands in front of his face, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Tell me Alexis, can you see duel monster spirits?" the blonde girl's eyes widened at the question. Not knowing what else to say to the sudden question, she silently nodded her head as the spectral image of Etoile Cyber appeared behind her. "Hello Etoile, it's good to see you again," he said as he looked at the spirit he had recently dueled against.

'_Hello Naruto,' _she said in a pleasant voice, _'I'm surprised you can see me, but given the power you wield, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise.'_ Alexis looked back and forth between her friend and spirit companion, a look of shock mixing with confusion on her face.

"Etoile, what are you talking about? What power does Naruto have?" asked Alexis, settling her gaze on the smiling spirit. Before her spirit had a chance to answer a new voice beat her to the punch.

'_The same power you have my dear,' _said Kushina as she appeared next to her son, _'The power to see, summon and control duel monster spirits, though he has much better control over his power than you do at this point.'_

"Alexis, allow me to introduce my spirit companion, Kushina Uzumaki," said spirit smiled kindly at the girl who was crushing on her son; plans already forming on how she could get the two together and then embarrass them.

Alexis was about to ask another question, only to be interrupted again, this time by her own spirit. _'Yes, I can sense that Naruto's power is different from Alexis' somehow. I just can't figure out how.' _Etoile frowned in concentration as she continued to try and figure out what the difference between her mistress' power and Naruto's was.

By this point, Alexis was tired of being left out of the loop and ignored and made her displeasure known. "Ok, that's it! Will someone please tell me what the hell you are talking about?"

Seeing his mother about to say something that would probably set Alexis off even more than she already was, Naruto quickly cut in. "The power they are talking about, is the one my mother mentioned, the power to see, summon and control duel monster spirits. You would probably know it better as the power of the Shadow Games." The look of confusion that had begun to appear was instantly replaced by understanding. Any duelist, no matter how skilled, knew about the Shadow Games and the power wielded by those who fought in them. "Now to most people that kind of power is considered to be a sign that someone is evil, but that is only because they do not fully understand the power itself. Actually, most of the people who wield the power don't fully understand it either. It is knowledge that has long been lost to this world, until recently."

"What do you mean?" asked both duelist and spirit at the same time. Naruto chuckled at the display, but answered nonetheless.

"What I mean, is that I understand fully what the power is, and I also know how one can learn to control such powers." Alexis felt her jaw unhinge slightly as she stared at the boy she had been harboring growing feelings for. Before her brother had gone missing, he had told her a little bit about the Shadow Games and the power used during them. According to everything he had told her, the only way someone could have even the slightest bit of control over such powers was if they were in possession of one of the Millennium Items! "The power involved in the Shadow Games, the power considered by most to be evil, is actually present in every living thing on earth. It is known as chakra, an energy formed by the mixing of one's spiritual and physical energies. Most people today possess minimal amounts of both energies and by extension, small reserves of chakra. But those who possess above average levels of chakra, such as you, tend to have more spiritual energy than physical energy. Since spiritual energy forms the darker half of chakra, the Yin half, the power produced is dark and chaotic in nature. I believe this misunderstanding of the chakra is what led people to fear this power as dark and resent those who wield it."

"If that's true, than what about the Shadow Games where people have supposedly lost their souls? If it's not really some kind of dark magic doing it, then why is it people are left comatose after losing one?"

"The reason for that is actually rather simple. You see, no human can live without their chakra; using too much at one time can result in a condition called chakra exhaustion. When someone reaches the point of chakra exhaustion, depending on the severity of the condition, they will pass out for a few hours, fall into a coma, or even die. From everything I've heard, when someone fights in a Shadow Game, they call upon their chakra, whether consciously or not to give their monsters the power to cause real damage to their opponents. You actually did that during our duel last night." Alexis looked horrified at the news that she had given her monsters the ability to truly hurt her friend. Etoile had a similar reaction, knowing that she was most likely the one who had injured him in the first place. Seeing his fellow blonde getting worked up over things, he immediately tried to dispel her worries. "Don't worry Alexis, you didn't do it on purpose, and it takes a lot more than what you can cause at your current level of power to hurt me."

His words helped calm her down, but she made a mental note to look in to the meaning behind that statement. What exactly had her friend gone through to make him so immune to pain? Pushing her concerns to the side for the moment, she asked the one question she had wanted to ask since their conversation began. "So how do I learn to control my power? You said that my chakra had more Yin than Yang, so it's a safe bet that I need more Yang to help control my power, right?"

Naruto smiled at Alexis' insight and nodded the affirmative, "Yes, in order to gain better control over ones chakra, you must have enough of both Yin and Yang chakra to balance one another out. While the most powerful and versatile chakras possess a perfect blend of Yin and Yang, it is almost impossible to reach such a state. Everyone's chakra is different, and everyone's chakra has a stronger alignment to either Yin or Yang. The key to mastering control of your chakra is to find the unique balance of Yin and Yang that provides you the best amount of control, and then train using methods specifically designed to help you learn better control."

"Alright," said Alexis as she glanced at the two females spirits who were talking in hushed tones on the other side of the room. Turning back to her fellow blonde, she flashed him a smirk, "So when do we start?"

Both of his eyebrows rose in mild surprise, "That's it? I just tell you that you have the potential to control a power long since lost to this world and all you say is 'when do we start?' There is no way you shouldn't be surprised by this information unless…" he trailed off as Alexis' shoulders sagged and her face reflected the sadness she was no doubt feeling. "This isn't the first time you've heard about powers like this, is it?"

"No," her voice was just barely above a whisper and even Naruto's chakra enhanced hearing struggled to hear her. "My older brother Atticus told me a little about it before…before…" her voice failed her as the tears she had been holding back leaked out of the corner of her eyes. Not one to ignore a crying female, Naruto moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to help comfort the grieving girl. What he didn't expect, was for her to latch onto his chest and bury her head into his shoulder.

Wrapping the crying girl in the best comforting hug he could, the blonde shinobi looked towards the two female spirits and saw them watching with concern and sadness in their eyes. He motioned for the two to take their leave, but not before conveying his desire to speak with Etoile at a later time. The spirits nodded their acknowledgement before fading out of existence, leaving Naruto to try and comfort his female friend.

He wasn't sure how much time passed as the two of them stayed in that position, Alexis drawing comfort from his presence. All he knew was that he would help Alexis find her brother, even if it was the last thing he ever did. The sound of Alexis' steady breathing brought him back to the present. Looking down at the girl in his arms, he found that she had fallen asleep and was snuggling further into his chest. Smiling softy, he carefully extracted himself from the sleeping girls grasp and laid her down comfortably on his bed. Acting on instinct he knelt down on the side of his bed and planted a soft kiss on Alexis' forehead.

Grabbing his shoes by the door, Naruto silently left his room and made his way back down stairs. It was only when he reached the top of the stairs that he realized exactly what he did. _'WHAT THE HELL!? Why did I kiss her forehead like that? Oh man, if mom ever finds out about that she'll never let me live it down.' _Shaking his head of those thoughts, he quickly descended the stairs and walked into the living room. Bastion and Syrus were sprawled out on the floor both fast asleep. Looking outside to check the time, he was shocked to see that night had fallen on the island. _'Damn, I guess more time passed than I anticipated. Oh well, I'll just have to wake everyone up early so they can get back to their dorms and get ready for class tomorrow.'_

Creating two shadow clones to take care of Bastion and Syrus, the original Naruto left his home and made his way deeper into the surrounding forest. "Etoile, if you can hear me, I need to talk to you," his call was answered as the red clad ballerina appeared before him. As soon she appeared, Naruto got strait to the point, "I understand its personal and not necessarily any of my business, but if I'm going to help Alexis find her brother, I need to know everything I possibly can about what happened to him."

'_I understand,' _said Etoile, _'And I appreciate you trying to help find Atticus, his disappearance really hit Alexis hard.' _Naruto nodded in agreement with that as he leaned back against a tree. Judging by how much Alexis cried before she fell asleep, it was obvious that the wounds of her brother's disappearance were still raw. _'Unfortunately, I don't know much about how or why he disappeared, all I or any of Alexis' spirits know is how much she's told us and what we have overheard in the past.'_

"It doesn't matter; any amount of information will help in my search." Etoile nodded and began her explanation.

'_Atticus possessed power similar to Alexis, though his was a little darker than hers. Knowing what I do now from your explanation, it seems that Atticus possessed incredibly powerful Yin chakra, though he never lost control of it except when he was incredibly angry.' _Naruto's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. He had dealt with people who possessed that kind of power before, and that experience didn't end very well. _'Three years ago, he came to Duel Academy and after a few months, Alexis found out that he had been transferred into a dorm for people with special powers and dueling abilities. Everything was going fine until a year ago, when it was discovered that many of the students in the dorm had vanished, including Atticus. No one knows exactly what happened, but rumors Alexis has heard were that the students there were competing in Shadow Games.'_

"So in other words, a misunderstood power was used as a scapegoat to help cover up the unexplained disappearances of numerous students," said Naruto with a frown as he went over the new information he had been given. While to most people it wouldn't seem like much, to a war hardened shinobi, it was a wealth of information. He now knew that Atticus was a very powerful individual, not only when it came to dueling, but also in terms of chakra. It also revealed that there was more to Duel Academy than he originally thought. It wasn't just a school for students to learn how to become pro duelist, but also some kind of experimental environment with many secrets to hide. There wasn't any other explanation Naruto could think of that would explain the Academy having a fully functioning dorm specifically set aside for students with special abilities. Making a mental note to speak to Chancellor Sheppard about some of his concerns, Naruto bid Etoile a good night and began making his way back to his house, his mind a buzz with theories, plans and questions about what was truly going on at Duel Academy.

**Well, that's that for this chapter, till next time everyone.**

**BSW**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 is up and ready! For those of you wondering, yes, I already have a few chapters of this story typed and ready, I'm just publishing them one at a time to get a feel for everyone's responses.**

**As usual, I own nothing relating to Naruto or Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 3- Predator or Prey**

Alexis was panting on the ground after the intense exercises Naruto had instructed her to do. Ever since their first conversation a few weeks ago, he had been working her to the extreme in her physical conditioning. At first she was confused as to why he had suddenly forced her into these exercises, but when he explained that it was the most effective way of increasing ones physical energy and by extension, Yang chakra, she had accepted it. "Naruto… can't we… take a break?" she panted out looking up at her fellow blonde, who didn't appear to have broken a sweat yet.

Smiling down at his exhausted exercise partner, the blonde gave a slight nod in acceptance. "Alright Alexis, we'll take a short break," his old prankster nature slipping through, his smile turned into a smirk, "After that warm-up I think five minutes will be enough of a break and after that, we'll get to the real workout." The downed girls eyes widened in shocked horror before narrowing into slits.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" her only answer was the widening of his smirk.

In the end, she learned exactly what classed as a workout for the powerful blonde duelist. She was grateful that it was Sunday and that they didn't have any classes or she would've probably missed them because she was so tired. That gratefulness was short lived when Naruto told her that, three times a week, he would be waking her up for early morning exercises before class. Deciding his new 'student' had put in enough effort for the day, Naruto gave her the rest of the day off to do with as she pleased. That had earned him a very ecstatic 'thank you' in the form of a strong hug and quick kiss on the cheek before Alexis left for her dorm, and more specifically, the hot tub. Shaking his head at his friends sometimes over exuberant tendencies, he went upstairs for a quick shower before leaving towards the main academy building.

_Chancellor's Office_

In his office, Sheppard was going over some paperwork for an event he hoped to host at Duel Academy. He knew that it would be a few months to a year before all of the necessary preparations were completed, but in the end it would hopefully be worth it. To his right a computer was going through a database and analyzing all of the cards used in duels since the start of the semester. He ran this same program at least four times a week, insuring none of his students were in possession of forbidden cards or trying to create their own forgery cards.

His work was interrupted by someone knocking on his door. Neatly placing the files he had been going over to the side, the chancellor folded his hands together and called out, "Enter." The door opened to reveal someone he was certainly not expecting to see, "Naruto, to what do I owe this surprise visit?"

The blonde freshman stood silently in front of the chancellor for a moment before finally answering, "I know about the missing students from the Abandoned Dorm." Sheppard's expression clearly showed his shock at Naruto's reply, but it was quickly replaced by a look of wariness. Knowing what was probably going through the chancellor's head, Naruto tried to put some of his worries to rest. "Don't worry; I won't reveal what I know to any of the other students or the public at large. All I want is to know what exactly happened in that dorm and what its purpose was before it was abandoned."

Sighing in relief, Sheppard nodded, "Very well Naruto, but I must ask; what is your sudden interest with the dorm and the missing students?" Seeing Naruto wasn't going to answer immediately, the maroon wearing chancellor pressed down on a section of his desk. A soft click was heard before the part of the desk slid out of the way, revealing a laptop hidden beneath.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, but passed it off as the chancellor merely being cautious. "A friend of mine has a connection to one of the missing students," while it was far from a lie, it certainly wasn't the whole truth. Sheppard didn't seem bothered by the cryptic answer and merely opened the laptop and entered the necessary password to unlock it.

"I assume you are talking about Alexis Rhodes' older brother, correct?" Naruto didn't verbally reply, but that was all the answer Sheppard needed. "Don't be so surprised Naruto," he said with a small, sad smile, "Ever since the incident, I have dedicated myself to finding out what happened to the missing students. I know the names of all of those that are missing. Besides that, your friendship with Ms. Rhodes is no secret. I daresay that you two are the source of quite a bit of gossip amongst the other students."

Shaking his head at the thought of everyone talking about him, Naruto couldn't say he was entirely surprised by that. Being the adoptive son of Pegasus was bound to put him in the spotlight in the first place and his actions at the entrance exams no doubt played a considerable part of that as well. What annoyed him though was that it wasn't just him, but Alexis as well and having known the biggest gossip girl in Konoha, Naruto had a pretty good idea of what people were saying about the two of them. "That aside; yes, this is about Atticus. I can tell his disappearance hit Alexis hard and I want to do what I can to help find him," pausing for a moment to glance around the room, Naruto spoke again in a quieter voice. "I assume Pegasus told you about my past, correct?" the bald man nodded the affirmative, "Than you know about the power I possess and what I am capable of. Hopefully I can use what I know to aid in the search for the missing students."

"While I welcome any and all help in this matter, I'm afraid there isn't much that anyone can do at this point." Having found he was looking for on the laptop, Sheppard turned the small computer towards Naruto. On the screen were multiple camera recordings from inside the abandoned dorm. At first everything seemed normal, students talking to one another, a few having duels in a small underground arena, and others were just lounging around the common areas. That changed as all at once, the camera feeds cut out and showed nothing but static. "All of the surveillance in the dorm and surrounding area was jammed by something. When I and several others went to the dorm to try and ascertain the cause, we found ourselves being pushed back by a strange force. The force prevented anyone from nearing the dorm and by the time it finally lessened enough for us to approach, all of the students had already vanished."

Naruto stayed quite as he considered everything the chancellor had said. Again, it didn't appear to be much, but it told him enough. The surveillance around the dorm failing could've been caused by any number of things, but he only knew of a few things that could physically stop outsiders from entering a place. One was a powerful sealing barrier, but he quickly ruled out that possibility as even in his time, fuinjutsu was an obscure art. That left him with two possible causes, and neither of them helped the bad feeling he had about the dorm. But even more concerning was what he saw before the camera feed cut out. It was less than a fraction of a second, something that would have been undetectable to the average human eye, but he had seen it. For the briefest of moments, a shadowed image appeared on all of the screens. He couldn't make out any discerning characteristics but it appeared to be the silhouette of a human head and torso.

"I understand Chancellor, but if I may make a suggestion," Sheppard nodded and motioned for Naruto to continue, "I can't be certain, but I believe I saw something just before the cameras cut out that may help to identify the one responsible, or at least point us in the right direction. Do you know of anyone you can send that footage to and have them slow it down and possibly enhance it to clear up the image?"

"Yes actually, the scientist at Industrial Illusions should be able to do that; though it may take quite some time before they manage to make any head way on this."

"Very well, it's not exactly an ideal time frame, but I suppose it's the best shot we have," conceded Naruto as he gave a small bow of his head to Sheppard before turning and moving to leave the office. Stopping just as the automatic door slid open, he looked back over his shoulder, "If you could please inform me when the scientists have finished with the footage, I would appreciate it. With your permission, I would like to conduct my own investigation concerning the dorm. Perhaps I can find something that was overlooked the first time."

Frowning as he clasped his hands in front of his face, Sheppard spoke in a tone that brokered no argument. "Naruto, as you are a student here, I cannot condone such actions. There are strict rules in place concerning the Abandoned Dorm for a reason. Should anyone, especially a student, be caught breaking these rules, they face immediate expulsion and removal from the island. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Namikaze?"

"Crystal, Chancellor," answered the blonde before leaving the office. Once the door closed behind him, Naruto gave a small smirk at Sheppard's subtle message. "He's clever, I'll give him that much," with that done, he left to wonder around the Academy for a while and maybe duel a few arrogant snobs while he was at it.

_Abandoned Dorm- Night_

That night, despite how sore her body still was, Alexis stood before the dorm her brother had once lived in. She knew the consequence if she was to be caught, but she didn't care, tonight was too important to let school policy stop her. Tonight was the one year anniversary of Atticus' disappearance. Placing a rose at the base of the weathered stone gate, the youngest Rhodes child felt tears begin to fall. "Be at peace, wherever you are," she whispered to the wind before turning and walking away from the boarded up structure.

So wrapped up her thoughts, the Obelisk student never noticed a shadowed figure coming up behind her until it was too late. A shrill scream escaped her lips as she was grabbed from behind, before it was smothered by a cloth being forced over her lower face. She suddenly felt her eyelids become heavy and her body began to involuntarily relax. _'Chloroform,' _Alexis thought in panic. Using what little control she still had over her body, she managed to move her arm behind her and pull a card out of her deck case. _'Etoile, go find help, hurry!' _she thought before she lost the fight to stay conscious and fell limp in her attackers grasp.

A deep, menacing chuckle came from the shadowed man as he picked up the prone form of his newest victim and placed her over his shoulder. "It appears my decision to come to this Academy was correct. Not only will I soon possess every rare card on the island, but the quality of the _entertainment _is excellent." His previous chuckle turning into a cold, harsh laugh, the shadowed duelist entered the Abandoned Dorm, thoughts of what he was going to do to his captive filling his mind.

_Naruto's House_

Naruto sat on the edge of his bed wearing nothing but a pair of black silk pajama pants. His eyes were dull as he lifelessly gazed at the collection of weapons hanging on his wall. What no one else knew was that each and every one of those weapons was a relic from his past life. A few of them he had had on his person when he went into his final battle as a shinobi. The others he had systematically tracked down in this time period, going as far as to excavate them from beneath the earth if it was required. Among them were his mother's katana, one of his father's Hiraishin kunai and the re-forged White Light Chakra Saber that once belonged to his sensei.

On this particular night, he had enjoyed a peaceful sleep until the memory of his last moments in his time surfaced in a dream. It had woken him in a cold sweat as the scenes from what he considered his greatest failure played themselves over and over in his mind's eye. The corpses of the Allied Shinobi Forces scattered all around him, the pale, dying forms of his closest friends. These memories were the reason he was so reluctant to leave the Duelist Kingdom in the first place, he was afraid that if he got too close to people, then he would fail to protect them again and be left alone in the world.

'_Naruto!' _the panicked scream ended his melancholy reverie. Eyes regaining some of their lost luster, Naruto looked up and saw the frantic spirit of Etoile Cyber in his room. Before he could ask what was wrong, she said something that caused his blood to freeze. _'Naruto hurry, Alexis has been kidnapped!'_

That single statement was all it took. Eyes regaining their sharpness and moving faster than the eye could see, Naruto threw on his haori and grabbed the first weapon within reach, his sensei's chakra saber. "Where is she Etoile? What happened?"

Taken aback by the speed her mistress' friend displayed, it took a moment for Etoile to regain her bearings. _'She was at the Abandoned Dorm, paying respects to her brother when she was attacked from behind! The person placed a cloth over her mouth and before she fell unconscious, she told me to go get help!'_

"That's all I need to know," said Naruto before he disappeared in a swirl of wind, quickly followed by a thoroughly shocked duel spirit. Moments later the blonde warrior reappeared outside the gates of the Abandoned Dorm, a fierce determination filling his entire being. He would not fail Alexis like he failed everyone else; he would not let her suffer the same fate they had.

Gripping the crossed chains that were blocking his way, he effortlessly ripped them from their stone casing. Letting the chain fall to the ground with a soft thud and with his anger simmering just beneath his skin, Naruto made short work of crossing the remaining distance to the dorm and kicking the boarded up door off its hinges. After he did a quick scan of the room and not finding any sign of Alexis or the bastard that took her he strode purposefully forward into the dorm. It quickly became apparent to him that neither Alexis nor her captor was anywhere on the ground floor, and not willing to waste any more time than he absolutely had too Naruto formed his signature hand seal and created three clones of himself. Sending the copies to search the upper levels of the dorm, the real Naruto turned towards the stairs leading to the basement.

If she were real and had a body of her own, Etoile Cyber was certain she would have lost the ability to move or speak by now. She knew that humans had the potential to do some impressive things when they were properly motivated, but some of the things she had seen tonight shouldn't even be possible! She was willing to except the speed Naruto displayed when she first arrived, having known he was faster than the average human. But when he seemingly teleported out of his home and directly to where Alexis was being held, she could honestly say she had never been quite as shocked as she was now. Apparently she didn't understand what shocked meant. _'N-naruto,' _she stuttered out, _'What exactly _are _you?'_

Not stopping his descent, the blonde shinobi gave her an answer that only served to confuse her even more. "Etoile that is a question I cannot give an answer to right now. Please just believe me that when the time is right, I will reveal everything, but not now. I know your loyalty lies with Alexis, but please keep what you have seen tonight to yourself. I know she will eventually start asking question, but I have to be the one to tell her the truth, no one else." Though she wanted to argue, she could understand his point of view. Ever since Alexis had gotten her deck and begun seeing duel spirits, she had been reluctant to tell her parents for fear of what they may think of her.

Grudgingly nodding her consent, Etoile looked down the path they were currently on and saw something that caused her eyes to widen. _'Naruto, look!' _

Glancing at what the duel spirit was pointing at, he felt his blood begin to freeze again. There on the ground, was Alexis' Eoitle Cyber card. Picking up the discarded card, Naruto broke out into a sprint, his desire to protect Alexis becoming too great to control. At his new speed, it didn't take long for him to finally reach the basement and the sight that greeted him made his heart stop.

Alexis was lying in a coffin, her form pale and lifeless, looking every bit like the corpses of his deceased comrades from his nightmare. Standing over her was a man wearing a large trench coat with a modified version of Crowler's duel vest strapped to his chest and arm. His right hand was currently loosening Alexis' Obelisk uniform, making his intentions clear for all to see. "Oh yes, I will enjoy claiming your body as my own. When I'm finished with you, you will beg me for more."

Hearing what this man planned on doing to Alexis caused Naruto to see red. His right hand unsheathing his sensei's blade, Naruto threw the tanto towards the large man, intent on ending his existence. Unfortunately, the man had heard him move and moved out of the way just as the blade passed through the spot his head had once been. Not letting up in his assault, the last living shinobi disappeared in a burst of speed only to reappear in-between Alexis and her assailant. The masked man didn't have time to register his shock before he was thrown back across the room by a powerful roundhouse kick. Seeing the man lying on the ground in pain allowed Naruto the time to regain some form of control over his emotions. Still not willing to take any chances, he pulled the chakra saber out of the wall and held it at the ready, "Who are you?"

Pushing himself into a standing position, the large man glared at the person who had interrupted his fun. "My name is Titan, and I am a Shadow Duelist. I came to this island to acquire all of the rare cards on it, and to sample some of fine female specimens this island has to offer." Naruto was just about to lunge at the man to finish him off when he activated his duel disk, "Since you interrupted my fun, I challenge you to a duel. The loser shall remain trapped in the Shadow Realm for all eternity."

"You can't be serious? Why would I bother to duel you, when I can just as easily sever your head from your shoulders and be done with it?" Apparently that wasn't the response Titan was expecting and what was visible of his face showed it. As the man began trying to stutter out a response, Naruto sheathed his blade. "But fine, I'll humor you in this so called Shadow Duel." Placing his hand over the left breast of his haori, Naruto released the seal holding his duel disk. Ignoring the shocked gasp from his opponent, Naruto pulled out his deck from the case attached to his pajamas, _'I guess Pegasus wasn't kidding when he said having a deck with you at all times would come in handy.' _Slotting the cards, Naruto glanced back at the unconscious form of Alexis before deploying his black disk.

"Duel!" both men shouted as they drew their first hands.

Naruto: 4000/Titan: 4000

"The first move is mine," Titan declared as his duel vest ejected in extra card. Placing the new card in his hand, the masked man chose another and set it in his monster zone. "I summon the Infernalqueen Archfiend in attack mode." A feminine fiend with a skeletal body structure and two wings folded behind her appeared on the field. She was clothed in a torn, yet regal looking cloak and gown that denoted her as a queen.

'_**Infernalqueen Archfiend: Atk 900/Def 1500, Level 4, Fire Attribute, Fiend/Effect- The controller of this card pays 500 Life Points during each of his/her Standby Phases (this is not optional). When this card is targeted by the effect of a card controlled by your opponent, when resolving the effect, roll a six-sided die. If the result is 2 or 5, negate the effect and destroy the opponent's card. As long as this card is face-up on the field, increase the ATK of all Archfiend monsters by 1000 points.'**_

"Because my queen is an Archfiend, her effect applies to her as well; increasing her attack by 1000," as his monsters attack rose, Titan picked up another card and placed it into a slot that opened on the top of his duel disk. "Now I activate the field spell, Pandemonium! With this, I no longer have to pay life points to keep my Archfiends in play, and unless they are destroyed by battle, I can add another Archfiend to my hand!" the area around the two duelists shifted from the darkness of the Abandoned Dorm to that of a ritualistic chamber of sorts that was entirely blood red in color.

'_**Pandemonium: Field Spell- Neither player has to pay Life Points during the Standby Phase for "Archfiend" monsters. Each time a player's "Archfiend" monster(s) is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, except by battle, that player can add 1 "Archfiend" monster from their Deck to their hand that is a lower Level than the destroyed card.'**_

'_Archfiends, huh? How appropriate,' _thought Naruto as he lazily drew a card from his deck. Adding the card to his hand, he picked up another and set it on his disk. "Since you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon this card to the field. So say hello to Jounin- Neji Hyuuga." Landing in a crouch in front of Naruto, the replica of the fallen Hyuuga crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. He was wearing the same standard issue, black jounin uniform of his village with a dark green flak jacket. "Because that was a special summoning, I can still normal summon this turn; and who better than Neji's cousin, Chuunin- Hinata Hyuuga."

'_**Jounin- Neji Hyuuga: Atk 2100/Def 2000, Level 5, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Effect- If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. If summoned this way, you may look at the top 3 cards from your Deck. Add two of them to your hand and send the last one to the Graveyard. If a monster with 'Hinata Hyuuga' in its name would be destroyed by battle, destroy this card instead.'**_

Hinata appeared next to Neji in a flash of light and assumed the traditional Jyuuken stance. "Now, because Neji was summoned using his effect, his second ability activates. I'm allowed to look at the top three cards from my deck," drawing three cards at once, Naruto looked them over before sliding one into his graveyard. "So long as I send one to my grave, I can keep the other two in my hand. And now I will activate one of them; a spell card called Twin Lion Fists."

'_**Twin Lion Fists: Equip Spell- This card can only be equipped to a monster with 'Hyuuga' in its name. A monster equipped with this card cannot be destroyed by battle. Destroy any monster that did battle with the equipped monster at the end of the Damage Step.'**_

"With this card, I can make Hinata indestructible in battle," as he said this, chakra erupted around Hinata's hands that took the shape of two lion heads.

"It doesn't matter if that pathetic monster can't be destroyed, she is still not powerful enough to destroy my queen," said Titan with a smirk, thinking this duel would be easier than he first thought. His smirk turned into a frown when Naruto simply smirked and ordered the female monster to attack his Archfiend. _'Is he a fool? His monster may be invincible, but he will still receive damage,' _true to his prediction, Naruto's life points dropped by two hundred.

Naruto: 3800/Titan: 4000

"You truly are foolish," the self-proclaimed Shadow Duelist mocked, "I guess this Academy hasn't taught you anything…" Titan was interrupted by the sound of his opponent chuckling before an explosion occurred on the field. When the dust finally settled, he was shocked to see that his Infernalqueen was no longer on the field, "What!?"

"My Twin Lion Fists doesn't only make my monster invincible in battle; it also destroys any monster mine battled against. Meaning your Archfiend was going to be destroyed anyway and now that you have no monsters to defend yourself, Neji can attack you directly." The Hyuuga Prodigy fell into the same stance as his cousin before launching himself at the defenseless duelist and striking him with a barrage of finger strikes.

Naruto: 3800/Titan: 1900

The masked man gasped in shock as pain shot throughout his body, "W-what was th-that?"

"That," began Naruto as he released a strong pulse of chakra, "Is what it feels like to fight in a real Shadow Game." Before either duelist could react, a golden light appeared around the sheathed chakra saber on Naruto's hip; the light soon became too strong for either competitor to handle and they were forced to cover their eyes. Naruto was the first to recover, and what he saw surprised him; gone was the demonic looking chamber of Pandemonium and in its place was an endless expanse of swirling darkness. _'What is this?' _he thought as he continued to look around before a soft glow at his side caught his attention. _'Wait, why is the chakra saber glowing? It's almost like… the Millennium Items! Could it be that the chakra saber invoked the power of the Shadow Realm? That shouldn't be possible though, according to Pegasus, only the Millennium Items can invoke such power… I need to figure this out as soon as possible, but for now, let's finish this duel.' _"It's your move, asshole," he called out to the still recovering man.

Finally managing to overcome the surprising pain caused by Naruto's monster, Titan drew a card from his deck, not even bothering to have his duel vest do it automatically. Appraising the five cards that made up his hand, he mentally cursed his blonde opponent, _'Damn him, without the Infernalqueen on the field, there isn't much I can do at this point. I may as well play it safe for now,' _"I'll place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Naruto drew his card silently. Looking at what he had drawn a smirk appeared on his face as he placed it in his spell and trap card zone, "I activate the spell card, The Hokage's Call to Arms."

'_**The Hokage's Call to Arms: Normal Spell- When this card is activated, Special Summon one level 6 of lower Warrior type monster from your Graveyard.'**_

"Thanks to this spell, I can special summon one Warrior type monster from my grave, so long its level 6 or below. I choose the card I discarded earlier, my Genin- Ino Yamanaka," the purple clad mind walker appeared next to Hinata and formed her clan's signature hand seal. "I activate her effect; by sacrificing her, I can take control a monster on your side of the field, regardless of its position."

"What!?" screamed Titan as his facedown monster appeared on Naruto's side of the field where Ino once stood.

"Now to end this," said Naruto as he pointed towards the defenseless Titan, "Go Neji, Hinata, finish him off!" The two monsters were quick to follow the command. Both of them prepared a single palm strike, before thrusting them into the black clad duelist's stomach, destroying what was left of his life points.

Naruto: 3800/Titan: 0

The second Titan's life point counter reached zero, creatures made of black slime appeared all around him and began to pull him into some kind of void. The defeated rapist tried reaching out towards Naruto for help, but all that met him was the cold gaze of the seasoned warrior. "Be thankful these creatures decided to handle your punishment. What they will do to you would be nothing compared to what I will do if I ever see you again."

Titan's screams echoed in the vast expanse of darkness before they were smothered by the slime creatures. Their duty complete, the slime creatures disappeared back into the endless void and the darkness surrounding Naruto faded from existence. Breathing out a sigh of relief, the shinobi turned to where Alexis was still unconscious in the coffin and moved forward to scoop the girl up into his arms. Cradling her limp form close to his chest, he focused on his home on the island and the two disappeared in a gust of wind.

_Naruto's House_

Quietly closing his bedroom door after making sure Alexis was comfortably situated on his bed, Naruto made his way downstairs to the living room. Sitting on the table in front of his couch was the White Light Chakra Saber. Relaxing on the couch and folding his hands in front of his face, the unranked duelist closed his eyes as he played the nights events over in his mind, trying to find an explanation for why they happened.

First, Titan, a registered criminal and rapist appears on the island. How did the man get to the island in the first place? They were far enough from shore that it would take at least two days of constant travel by boat to reach the island. No one should have been able to make that kind of journey alone, unless they had the right kind of training. That left air travel as the only means of reaching the island quickly, but that worried Naruto even more. No helicopters had been seen on the island for a month now, and Titan didn't seem the type to wait that long to make his move. That meant someone had to have brought him to the island and left shortly after. Naruto made a mental note to pay Sheppard another visit soon to discuss what measures were being taken to protect the Academy, if there were any at all.

The thing that really bothered him though, was how the chakra saber seemed to invoke the power of the Shadow Realm. From what Pegasus had told him, only the Millennium Items should possess the ability to call on such power. So what did that make the chakra saber? It couldn't have been cursed because it was one of the things he had brought with him to this time. Conceding that he didn't know enough about the Millennium Items to draw a viable conclusion to his questions, Naruto decided to put the matter aside until he had a chance to speak with certain individuals.

"Naruto?" a soft voice said from the entry way. Opening his eyes, Naruto saw Alexis walking into the living room, eyes drooped from fatigue. Getting off the couch, Naruto pulled his fellow blonde into a comforting hug, knowing she was likely going to need to be reassured that she was safe from harm.

"How are you feeling Alexis?" he asked, his worry for the girl in his arms filling his voice. Alexis gave him a little extra squeeze before pulling back far enough to look him in the eye.

"A little tired, but other than that I'm fine," she said with a small smile. Her smile lessened slightly as the events from earlier that night came to the forefront, but she did her best to hide it, not wanting to worry her friend any more than he already was. Unfortunately for her, Naruto was much more observant and understood females a little better than most.

"You remember what happened," it was more of a statement than a question.

Her smile was replaced with a small frown and her brow creased as she tried to recall exactly what had happened before she fell unconscious. "Yeah," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I was at the Abandoned Dorm because today was…" her voice caught in her throat as she fought back the tears. Pulling her back into his chest, Naruto did his best to convey his support. Feeling her strength renewed by Naruto's presence, she continued, "Today was the anniversary of Atticus' disappearance. I wanted to do something in his memory, so I left his favorite flower outside the dorm. The next thing I know, someone's behind me and has a rag of chloroform pressed over my face. I don't remember anything else after that and the next thing I know I was waking up in your room."

Naruto pulled Alexis onto the couch and looked her dead in the eye, "Alexis, most people would lie and tell you nothing happened to prevent you from experiencing any kind of trauma; I'm not one of those people. I believe knowing the truth and learning to cope with it makes us stronger; but I will give you the choice. If you want to know what happened, I will tell you, if not; we can move on and forget this ordeal ever happened."

Alexis hesitate for a moment, truly wondering if she did want to know what happened. In the end, Naruto's wise words held more merit than her fears. It may be difficult to listen too, but if she could accept it and move on, she would be stronger for it. So with a nod of consent, Naruto told her everything; from Etoile appearing in his room, to his subsequent victory over Titan in a Shadow Duel. He took great care to alter and avoid the points in the story where he had utilized his skills as a shinobi and also the reason why he had been up this late. When he got to the part where he had found Titan preparing to rape her, she had withdrawn into herself a bit and clung to him tighter, but he just held her and let her work through it as best she could. They stayed in that position for the rest of the night, both finally surrendering to the blissful hold of sleep.

The next morning, Naruto was the first to wake, his body used to short amounts of sleep. Slowly opening his eyes he would forever remember the picture of perfection that greeted his vision. Alexis was sleeping with her head on his chest, her face the perfect image of peaceful content. The morning rays of sunlight filtering through one of the windows were casting a soft glow across her skin, making her look every bit the angel she was. Her right arm was wrapped around his waist, unknowingly brushing against his morning wood. His eyes shot open when he finally registered that last part. Quickly but carefully extracting himself from her grasp, Naruto left to go about his normal morning routine before waking the sleeping beauty in his home and preparing for the days classes.

An hour later, Naruto walked back into the living room and knelt next to the still sleeping girl. Gently shaking her shoulder, he spoke softly, "Alexis, come on Alexis it's time to wake-up. We have to be in class soon and we don't want Crowler getting on our case do we?"

"Uhmm, no," mumbled the waking girl before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was then that the intoxicating aroma of food reached her nostrils and her mouth instantly began to water while her stomach gave a loud growl.

Chuckling slightly, Naruto stood and motioned for her to follow him to the kitchen, "Sounds like someone's hungry."

Alexis' cheeks turned pink, but she nodded all the same. Taking an offered seat, the blonde Obelisk asked, "I didn't know you could cook Naruto. When did you learn?"

"When I was young," he said as he set two plates full of eggs, bacon and toast on the table. "I was orphaned at a young age and the orphanage I was in wasn't exactly the best. The matrons there would sometimes force the kids to do a brunt of the work. Cooking was one of them and even though I didn't necessarily learn willingly, it's something I enjoy doing." Again it wasn't a complete lie, but if he was going to tell her everything one day, he had to start slowly or it might be too overwhelming for her.

Alexis looked appalled that people would do something like that to children in their care, but kept any comment she may have had to herself. A comfortable silence descended over the two as they ate the simple yet delicious breakfast. Soon after they finished, the two blondes were making their way towards the main building for class.

They had just taken seats next to each other in Crowler's class when something neither expected happened. A dozen men, garbed in black military uniforms, entered the classroom. They formed two lines on the aisles, boxing in all of the students. From the front of the class, a woman wearing the same uniform stepped up to the teacher's podium and spoke in a commanding voice. "Naruto Namikaze? You are under campus arrest, will you comply, or do things have to get physical?"

The classroom fell silent as all eyes turned to the unranked duelist. Narrowing his eyes at the woman, Naruto slowly stood up. "What exactly are the charges against me?" unknown to anyone else in the room, he was silently using his chakra to stretch his muscles and prepare his body if things got out of hand.

"That will be made clear at the interrogation. Now I'll ask one last time, will you comply?"

"I'm not going anywhere until I hear these so called charges," crossing his arms to emphasize his point, Naruto leveled the woman with a glare that would have made Orochimaru proud.

"Very well," the tone in her voice showed that she wasn't surprised by his lack of cooperation, "You leave us no choice. Take him!" the black cad troopers made a move to apprehend Naruto, but they were shocked when he suddenly jumped from his place at the top of the class and landed seamlessly behind the woman in charge. That shock didn't last long though and they quickly made their way down the steps and surrounded Naruto.

From her place in the class, Alexis watched the scene unfolding before her with worry. She knew that Naruto was in great physical condition, he had to be with the workouts he did, but could he really take on the Disciplinary Action Squad? They were the police of the campus and highly trained to keep the island safe, though they didn't do a very good job when it came to stopping Titan.

A few rows down Bastion and Syrus shared Alexis' worry for their friend. They would have done something to help him, but it seemed the Action Squad had come in force. The moment the order to apprehend Naruto had been given; more troopers had stormed into the room and formed a defensive line around the classroom, preventing any outside interference from reaching Naruto.

Back on the floor, one of the troopers made a grab for Naruto, only to have his hand stopped by his target. Spinning on his heel, the last shinobi threw the man into three of his comrades with little difficulty. That forced the other squad members into action; two came at him from either side, intent on catching him in a pincer move. Naruto waited until they were almost on top of him before ducking down and delivering a powerful palm thrust to their torsos, sending them both back the way they came. Still trying to overwhelm him with numbers, four more tried to catch him off guard with a frontal charge.

'_Are they serious?' _thought Naruto as he glanced around him; so far he had easily dispatched half of the men surrounding him and the other half would soon follow. Ignoring the four rushing him, he mentally frowned at the tactics being used against him. _'Do they really think trying to overwhelm me with increasing waves is going to work? They've already seen I have no problem fighting multiple opponents, so why not switch tactics? I guess these guys aren't as highly trained as they think.' _Putting his thoughts aside for the moment, he refocused on his next four victims. Dropping to the ground once again, Naruto spun and knocked his assailants off of their feet with a leg sweep. Continuing his spin, he smoothly pushed himself into a handstand and hit the four away using a textbook helicopter kick.

Before any of the remaining troopers could try and avenge their comrades, the screen came to life with a scowling Chancellor Sheppard on it. "What is the meaning of this!? Madam Chairman, who authorized you to use such force against a student?"

Snapping to attention, the woman in charge spoke up, "Sir, we received an anonymous tip from one of the faculty that Naruto Namikaze knowingly and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions entered the Abandoned Dorm. The informant also authorized the use of force should the offender refuse to comply. The reasons given were that the offender had already proven he had no qualms about harming others; an incident report from the entrance exams confirms this." As an afterthought she added, "He has also assaulted and injured several members of my squad. Given the charges Chancellor, I recommend he be expelled immediately." Naruto being threatened with expulsion moved many of the Slifer's and Ra's present to speak up in defense of the blonde.

Three students in particular took that as their que to finally get involved and defend their friend. Alexis, Bastion and Syrus pushed their way past the members of the Disciplinary Action Squad and quickly moved to Naruto's side. Alexis immediately saddled up to Naruto's side, her left hand slipping into his almost naturally. Acting on instinct, Bastion and Syrus took up positions just behind the two blondes, flanking them as warriors would their king and queen.

"Chancellor, if you expel Naruto, you will have to expel me to," said Alexis, surprising many of her fellow Obelisks. While a majority of those in the blue blazers didn't exactly get along with Naruto, they at least respected his prowess in the dueling arena. To hear that their 'Queen' was willing to let herself be expelled along with him gave others reason to reevaluate their opinions of the blonde.

Sheppard only showed mild surprise at the declaration, but was stopped before he could speak. "I must agree with Alexis, Chancellor. I know Naruto and it is not in his nature to so blatantly ignore such rules. If he was indeed at the dorm, then he had reason to be there. Furthermore, beyond the anonymous tip; does the Disciplinary Action Squad have any solid evidence that Naruto committed the violations he is accused of?" The last part was directed towards the Chairman of the squad, who flinched at the question.

That was enough of an answer for the Chancellor however, "Seeing as you don't have evidence to back up your claims, Naruto will not be punished. Now, I suggest you and your men return to your barracks and up your training. If a single student could so easily defeat some of your best, than I question your capabilities to perform your jobs."

"NOW WAIT JUST ONE MOMENT!" screamed a familiar shrill voice. Everyone turned to see Crowler stomping into the class, his face an angry shade of red. "Chancellor, this slacker not only breaks some of the most important rules at this school, but also brutally attacks those tasked with our safety and your letting him off scot free!?"

"There is no evidence to support that Naruto broke such rules and the Action Squad used unauthorized force against him; he was well within his right to defend himself." Crowler scowled at his superior, but the look quickly morphed into one of glee as an idea struck him.

"Very well Chancellor; as neither party can provide evidence to support their claim, other than their word on the matter, I will exercise my right as Vice Chancellor. Therefore, Mr. Namikaze will duel an opponent of my choosing to decide whether or not he shall face punishment. If he wins, he will be pardoned, if he loses, he will be expelled immediately." Naruto's eyes narrowed at the cross-dresser, before shifting to his Chancellor, his expression asking the question everyone wanted an answer to.

His scowl returning, Sheppard nodded once, confirming Crowler's claim. "So be it, Naruto will duel your chosen opponent in one week in the main arena. Until then carry on with classes as normal, that is all." The screen blacked out after that and with plans on how to get Crowler back forming in his mind, Naruto led his friends back to their seats so class could finally begin.

It wasn't a minute after class was dismissed that Naruto was out the door, his three friends quickly catching up with him. "Bastion," said the blonde as he led them to their next class, "Sheppard has already confirmed that what Crowler did was within his rights, but I want to know the rule that allows him to do it in detail. Do you know it?" The three were taken aback by the tone in Naruto's voice. It was one that spoke of a person used to giving commands, like a general leading an army.

"Yes," said Bastion, "It is one of the lesser used rules because the circumstances for its use are rarely achieved. It simply states, 'Should a member of the school staff accuse a student of a crime with minimal evidence, that student has the right to challenge such claims. But should the student provide equally minimal evidence to their defense, the standing Vice Chancellor may step in to avoid the conflict escalating. The Vice Chancellor may choose to set a challenge before the student with consequences to be paid should they fail the set challenge.' From what I can tell, it is pretty straight forward and there doesn't appear to be any loopholes that can be exploited."

"That is where you're wrong Bastion," three pairs of eyes narrowed in confusion but before any of them could ask, Naruto spoke again. "Alexis, out of the three of you, your deck is the most compatible with mine. Once classes are finished for the day, we will have to calibrate it so it can work more harmoniously with mine. Syrus, Bastion, while we are doing that, I want you two to monitor the docks and heliports and report any strange arrivals."

"Why do you want us to do that, Naruto?" asked the shortest member of their group. "You don't think Dr. Crowler would really bring in an outside duelist as your opponent do you? Besides, wouldn't he have told you if your duel would have been a tag team? It wouldn't be fair to you if he didn't."

"This is Crowler we're talking about Syrus. We know he's not above using the rules to try and get rid of me; the incident with the love letter was proof of that. The rule he's using now grants him a lot of freedom in choosing my challenge. It didn't specifically state that he had to tell me exactly what the challenge would be, so he could easily arrange a tag match and disqualify me on principle alone. No matter how underhanded it is, if he did, it would be perfectly legal according to the rules. That's why I'm not taking any chances." The three remained silent at that, knowing that everything Naruto had said was true. The rest of the day passed by in a blur for the four duelists and they soon separated to complete their assigned tasks.

**Hope you all enjoyed, the next chapter should be up in about a week or so. Till then!**

**BSW**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, the fourth chapter is up, enjoy. As a bonus, you get two duels in this chapter.**

**Chapter 4- A King, a Queen and a Knight**

The week leading up to the duel that would determine Naruto's fate at Duel Academy was an eventful one. Word of Naruto's actions in class and his impending duel spread like wildfire across the island. The small handful of students who were still against the former shinobi now gave him a wide birth, fearing what he may do to them should they incite his anger. This caused many of the families of those students to put pressure on Chancellor Sheppard to forgo the challenge and simply expel the blonde at once.

Unfortunately for those families, Pegasus didn't take to kindly to them threatening his son. Naruto had contacted him and informed him of the entire ordeal that led to the current situation asking for his help. Adopted of not, Pegasus couldn't ignore his son's call and readily took up the task of running interference on the legal stage as well as creating a set of cards to help Alexis' Cyber Angels work better with Naruto's deck.

The students at the Academy could easily sense the trepidation coming from the group of four and they did their best to stay out of the group's way. Taking Naruto's words to hearts about not taking any chances with the upcoming duel, the three ranked students recruited some help in making preparations. Syrus had brought in his roommate, Chumley Huffington, to help keep watch over the harbor. This freed Bastion to focus more of his energy on researching potential opponents Crowler may hire to duel Naruto. Alexis also brought in her friends Jasmine and Mindy, and after being told the whole story along with everyone else, the two set about aiding Bastion in his research. Despite being two of the biggest fan girls on the island, they proved that when the time called for it, they were quite intelligent and skilled.

To the surprise of many of the group, Zane Truesdale, the Kaiser of Duel Academy also stepped up to help. When asked why, he simply said that anyone who would risk themselves to save his surrogate little sister was a worthy friend and ally. At first not everyone was quite sure what to make of his answer, but when Naruto accepted the help, the others were quick to follow. So with their numbers bolstered by the new additions, the group set out the make sure they were as prepared as possible for anything Crowler might throw their way.

_Slifer Red Dorm_

The day of the duel soon arrived and so far, nothing suspicious had occurred to indicate Crowler was trying to cheat Naruto. That was about to change as a helicopter made its way towards the remote island.

Sitting on the porch of the Slifer dorm, Chumley was devouring yet another grilled cheese while watching the harbor with a pair of binoculars. "Looks like we're in the clear," he mumbled in-between bites of his sandwich. He spoke to soon though as a helicopter appeared in the distant skies heading for the helipads. "What the…" stuffing the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, the senior Slifer focused on the landing aircraft. His eyes widened when he saw who stepped out of the helicopter and who greeted them.

Fumbling with his PDA, the koala looking student called the first number he thought of. "Syrus!" he shouted as soon as the blunettes face appeared on the screen, "Naruto was right, Crowler is trying to pull a fast one! He's brought in the Paradox Brothers as his opponents!"

"What!? Oh man sometimes I hate it when Naruto is right. Thanks Chum, better start heading towards the arena, I'll send a message and let everyone know about this." With that the younger red student ended the call, leaving Chumley to start making his way to the main arena.

_Obelisk Blue Duel Arena- One Hour Later_

Noise filled the arena as students sat in anticipation for the upcoming duel. Even to someone who didn't know about the rivalry between the dorms could easily tell that there was a divide amongst the students. A small group of Obelisk students were sitting apart from the rest; they were the few who still resented Naruto and among them was their leader, Chazz Princeton. Ever since his loss at Naruto's hands, with the exception of the party he now led, he had become the laughing stock of the blue dorm. Even if they didn't share his beliefs, the other Obelisk's took great pleasure in reminding him of his humiliating defeat.

Clenching his fists as the thoughts of his dorm mates surfaced, Chazz glared at the blonde figure standing on the dueling platform. _'It won't be long now slacker. Soon you'll be expelled and I'll take up my rightful place as the undisputed King of Duel Academy.' _A cruel smirk spread across his face as Crowler walked out to the platform to begin the duel.

"Welcome everyone," the gender confused teacher shouted once he reached the center of the platform. "I am sure you are all aware of why we are having this little exhibition match, but for the sake of those who do not, allow me to explain. Mr. Naruto Namikaze has been accused of breaking several school rules and faces expulsion, however since neither he nor those who accused him have enough evidence to prove their sides of story, I have arranged this match to test Mr. Namikaze to see whether or not he shall face punishment." Several murmurs could be heard amongst the audience about the harshness of the punishment, but Crowler continued on unimpeded, "Now without further ado allow me to introduce are guest duelists, the Paradox Brothers!"

Two men wearing monk's robes fell from the rafters and landed on the platform across from Naruto. Both were wearing what appeared to be modified versions of the robes the Ninja Monks used to wear in Naruto's original time and like most monks, they were bald. The only noticeable difference between the two was the color of their robes; one was orange while the other was green. They both had a kanji tattooed onto their foreheads which confused Naruto at first as alone neither of the kanji had any meaning, but when he looked at them together, he saw that they formed the whole kanji for 'Labyrinth.'

"Salutations you fool," the orange wearing one said.

"Hope you're ready to duel," finished the green clad one.

'_I really hope they don't plan on doing that back and forth speak the entire time,' _thought Naruto before he turned his gaze to Crowler. "So which one of them is my opponent?" he asked, playing the role of the ignorant student flawlessly.

Crowler's smirk, which had been on his face ever since he set foot on the platform, widened to almost maniacal proportions. "They both are young scholar. For you see, this is a tag duel," the lipstick wearing man took gleeful pleasure as he pretended to have just noticed something. "Oh dear, oh dear, you don't have a partner for this duel do you? I'm afraid that unless you can produce a partner in the next few seconds, you will lose by default and be expelled from the Academy." Thinking he had finally gotten one over on the blonde menace, the Vice Chancellor turned to address the crowd once again. "As Mr. Namikaze cannot produce a partner, I hereby dis…"

"Actually, I do have a partner," Naruto's voice cut across the arena, much to the surprise and anger of Crowler.

"Now, now Mr. Namikaze, lying will get you nowhere," chided Crowler in his pompous voice. His supposed victory was short lived however as a new voice entered the arena.

"He's telling the truth Dr. Crowler, I'm his partner." Every head in the arena turned to the entrance way as the owner of the voice walked out of the tunnel. Crowler and Chazz's eyes widened when they saw who it was while everyone who knew about the classroom incident a week ago cheered.

"ALEXIS/MS. RHODES!?" shouted the two people who hated Naruto the most. Chazz may have been present during the classroom incident, but he still refused to believe that 'his' Alexis would really lower herself to that level. For Crowler, the shock that one of his Obelisks would willingly duel with his most hated pupil was over shadowed by the fact that Naruto had known he would need a partner for the match.

By the time the two had gotten over their shock, Alexis had reached the platform and was standing at Naruto's side once again. Gritting his teeth at yet another failed attempt to expel Naruto, Crowler forced himself to remember that there was still the matter of the duel itself. _'It doesn't matter, even if Alexis is dueling with him, Naruto won't stand a chance against the Paradox Brothers. After he is expelled, I will have Ms. Fontaine punish Alexis as well; hopefully that will help her to see the error of her ways.'_

"Enough with the pleasantries," said Para as he formed a half ram sign with his left hand. Beside him, his twin took the same pose, using his right hand to form the seal instead.

"And now on with the duel," moving in unison, the two turned to look at their blonde opponents.

"We didn't come here to talk," both jumped back to their side of the dueling arena and assumed a fighting stance. "We came, to destroy you!" they finished at the same time.

Neither Naruto nor Alexis said anything as they took up their positions so the duel could commence. Mistaking their silence for fear and trepidation, Crowler decided to get in one last shot at Naruto before the duel began. "Oh don't worry, my young scholar, I'm sure you'll do fine. After all these two haven't dueled in years and their last opponent was some child by the name of… Yugi I believe."

"You can stop talking Crowler," said Naruto, his voice once again devoid of emotion as he mentally prepared himself. "Did you forget who my father is? I know all about the duel these two had with Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler, and it means nothing. Now start the duel and get out of the way."

Just as the headmaster of the Obelisk dorm was about to start ranting, Alexis leveled her cold gaze on him. Even Crowler was smart enough to know not to mess with a hacked off female so he wisely decided to explain the rules and get out of the line of fire. "Very well, the rules for this duel are simple; neither side is allowed to share strategies or advice. Also, teams may use any cards on their partner's field or in their graveyard. Both teams shall start with 8000 life points, understand?" Four nods in the affirmative were his answer, "Then begin the duel!"

Naruto-Alexis: 8000/Para-Dox: 8000

Alexis looked to Naruto before she drew a card from her deck. "I'll start us off," placing her new card in her hand the blonde Obelisk picked up another and placed it in her monster zone. "I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode," a young pink haired girl wearing a light green ballerina outfit with red sleeves and accents appeared on the field. She had on a frilly, translucent sky blue skirt along with a visor of the same color. On her feet were pink ballerina slippers with long strands fluttering behind her. "Next I'll activate the spell card, Prima Light."

'_**Cyber Tutu: Atk 1000/Def 800, Level 3, Earth Attribute, Warrior/Effect- If the attack of each monster your opponent controls is higher than the attack of this card, this card can attack your opponent directly.'**_

'_**Prima Light: Quick-Play Spell- Send 1 face-up 'Cyber Tutu' you control to the Graveyard. Special Summon 1 'Cyber Prima' from your hand.'**_

"Since Cyber Tutu is on my field, I can sacrifice her to special summon Cyber Prima from my hand." Tutu disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a white haired female with a red mask. The new monster had on a gray and ice blue skin tight suit. She had on a pair of dark blue boots that reached just below her knees. Floating around her waist were two crossed, golden hoops that matched the four hoops around her arms, two at her wrists and two at her shoulders.

'_**Cyber Prima: Atk 2300/Def 1600, Level 6, Light Attribute, Warrior/Effect- When this card is Tribute Summoned: Destroy all face-up Spell Cards on the field.'**_

"Next I activate Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring Tutu back from the grave." The young girl reappeared on the field with a little twirl and settled next to her older counterpart. The blonde Obelisk placed one of her two remaining cards in her spell and trap card zone, "I'll end my turn with one card facedown." As a hologram of a card appeared behind Cyber Prima, the orange clad twin drew a card from his deck.

"Impressive I will admit, but so is this. Arise, Jirai Gumo," a large, mutated brown spider appeared in front of Para. It had spikes for legs and three green eyes that only added to its grotesque appearance, "That will do for now."

'_**Jirai Gumo: Atk 2200/Def 100, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Insect/Effect- When this card declares an attack: Toss a coin and call it. If you call it wrong, lose half your Life Points.'**_

"You're just like Crowler, playing a powerful monster but leaving yourself defenseless otherwise. Be thankful none of us can attack on our first turn," said Naruto as he drew his card. Looking at it for a moment he placed it in his monster zone, "I'll summon Chuunin- Shikamaru Nara in attack mode and set one card facedown." Wearing a gray version of the standard issue Konoha uniform and a light green chuunin vest, the pineapple haired genius appeared in a swirl of shadows. One card appeared behind the new monster as Naruto crossed his arms, awaiting his opponents turn.

'_**Chuunin- Shikamaru Nara: Atk 1600/Def 1900, Level 4, Dark Attribute, Warrior/Effect- Once per turn, you can change this face-up Attack Position monster into defense mode to stop the attack of one of your opponents monsters.'**_

"It is you who should be thankful, for I summon the Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode. I also play the spell card Tribute Doll. To activate it, I must sacrifice a monster from our side of the field; fortunately my brother is so generous with his." The two shared a nod before Dox choose another card in his hand, "Now say farewell Jirai Gumo; I sacrifice you in order to summon, Kazejin!" A powerful wind picked up on the dueling platform causing the brothers' robes and Naruto's haori to flutter in the wind. From the center of that wind, rose a green spherical monster with long, bulky arms. It had golden markings along the main part of its body forming the rough outline of a face on it. In the center of it, was a large kanji for 'Wind' inside of a gold circle.

'_**Kaiser Sea Horse: Atk 1700/Def 1650, Level 4, Light Attribute, Sea Serpent/Effect- This card can be treated as 2 Tributes for the Tribute Summon of a LIGHT monster.'**_

'_**Tribute Doll: Normal Spell- Tribute 1 monster; Special Summon 1 Level 7 monster from your hand that can be Normal Summoned or Normal Set. It cannot attack this turn.'**_

'_**Kazejin: Atk 2400/Def 2200, Level 7, Wind Attribute, Spellcaster/Effect- During your opponent's damage calculation, you can reduce the attack of an attacking monster to 0 until the end of the Damage Step. This effect can only be used once while this card remains face-up on the field.'**_

"But I am not finished yet, I activate Dark Designator. This powerful spell allows me to call out any monster I can think of, and if it is anywhere in my brothers deck, he can add it to his hand. Now let me see here…Sanga of the Thunder!"

Para chuckled slightly as a card slid out of the middle of his deck, "What do you know it is right here ready to tear them asunder." Adding the powerful card to his hand, Para stuck his left arm out towards Naruto and Alexis, "The duel just started."

"And yet it is almost done," continued Dox mirroring his brothers pose with his right arm. "For your demise has already begun!" they finished together.

"They sure love to hear themselves talk, don't they Alexis?" asked Naruto with a fake yawn, emphasizing the boredom he felt at the brothers antics. The two wannabe monks scowled at their male opponent, but before they could respond, most likely in tandem again, the female of the team began her turn.

"Looks that way doesn't it?" drawing her card with smirk on her face, the Obelisk queen showed it to her opponents. "I activate Pot of Greed, giving me two more cards," after adding the two cards to her hand, she pointed her gloved hand towards the defenseless Para. "Now let me show you how foolish it was to leave your brother completely defenseless. Cyber Prima, attack him directly!"

Just as the white haired monster was about to strike, Dox made his counter. "Not so fast, I activate the effect of Kazejin; reducing your monsters attack to 0! In other words, your attack is useless!" Kazejin moved in front of Para and produced a wall of wind to fend off the attack. Unfortunately for them, Alexis wasn't so easily denied.

"You've triggered my trap! Go, Pure Pupil," her trap flipped face up, revealing a white humanoid body surrounded by rays of light. A beam of light shot out of the card and impacted with Kazejin, destroying it in a shower of light. With nothing standing in her way, Cyber Prima continued with her attack, striking the orange clad brother with a falling axe kick.

'_**Pure Pupil: Counter Trap- Activate only when your opponent activates the effect of an Effect Monster while you control a monster with 1000 or less attack. Negate that effect, and destroy that monster.'**_

Naruto-Alexis: 8000/Para-Dox: 5700

"What happened to our monster?" said the brothers, shock covering their faces.

"The effect of my Pure Pupil happened," said Alexis as she crossed her arms under her large bust, "Since I control a monster with 1000 attack points, your monsters effect is negated and the monster itself, destroyed. Now it's my Tutu's turn to attack, and since the only monster you control has more attack points than her, she can attack you directly!" The young ballerina leapt over the sea serpent monster and kicked Dox with a graceful spin, "I think you've taken enough punishment this turn, so I'll end with that."

Naruto-Alexis: 8000/Para-Dox: 4700

"You will pay for that," Para said as he drew his card with a wide swing of his arm. "I play my own Monster Reborn, and bring back the frightful Jirai Gumo," the mutated bug reappeared on the field in a flash of light. "Next I activate Tribute Doll; I hope you remember what comes next." Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly while Alexis frowned, "I sacrifice Jirai Gumo once again to summon the mighty Suijin." A monster that looked like the lower half of a body appeared in a geyser of water. It was blue with two legs on either side of its body. The body itself was a lighter shade of blue with the kanji for 'Water' in the middle and an open mouth on the bottom.

'_**Suijin: Atk 2500/Def 2400, Level 7, Water Attribute, Aqua/Effect- During damage calculation in your opponent's turn, if this card is being attack: You can target the attacking monster; make that target's attack 0 during damage calculation only. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.'**_

"But I am not done, thanks to my brother, I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse and when he is used for the tribute summon of a LIGHT attribute monster, his sacrifice counts as two. So arise, Sanga of the Thunder!" The red armored monster seemed to fade into existence on the field with lightning flashing around it. The arms and lower part of its body were a rusted gold color, matching the horned medallion on its chest. In the center of the medallion was the kanji for 'Lightning,' and protruding from its shoulders was a chain of three golden orbs.

'_**Sanga of the Thunder: Atk 2600/Def 2200, Level 7, Light Attribute, Thunder/Effect- During damage calculation in your opponent's turn, if this card is being attacked: You can target the attacking monster; make that target's attack 0 during damage calculation only. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.'**_

"The time has come to avenge their fallen brother, go Sanga, and attack Cyber Tutu." Lightning surged around the thunder monster before a single bolt struck the ballerina. She gave a silent scream before an explosion consumed her.

Naruto-Alexis: 6400/Para-Dox: 4700

"Now Suijin shall have his turn, destroy Cyber Prima," a powerful jet of water came from the monsters open mouth and barreled down on the silver clad female. Before it could reach her however, an invisible barrier intercepted the attack. "The attack was blocked? How could that be?"

"Did you forget this was a tag duel?" everyone looked towards Naruto and noticed that his monster, which had been in attack mode, was now in defense mode. "Dismissing an opponent, believing they are not a threat and focusing solely on the other is the worst mistake you could make in this kind of duel. Because of your foolishness, you failed to take into consideration my monsters special effect. By switching him into defense position, I can negate your monsters attack. Now unless you have another card to play, hurry up and end your turn."

Scowling, the orange clad brother grudgingly nodded, "Good, now watch how a real duelist works." Adding the new card to the three already in his hand, Naruto choose another, "I sacrifice Shikamaru in order to summon one of my greatest allies, Jounin- Kakashi Hatake." The Nara heir seemed to smirk before he disappeared into a vortex of sorts, out of the same vortex emerged the familiar form of the silver haired jounin. The hologram turned and eye smiled at the blonde shinobi before lifting up his headband and leveling his Sharingan gaze on the two brothers. "When he is summoned successfully to field, his special effect kicks in, allowing me to summon up to two 'Genin' monsters from my hand. So say hello to Genin- Sasuke Uchiha." The young Uchiha appeared next to his former master and assumed his family's taijutsu stance.

'_**Jounin- Kakashi Hatake: Atk 2500/Def 2200, Level 6, Light Attribute, Warrior/Effect- When this card is successfully summoned to the field, you may Special Summon up to 2 'Genin' monsters from your hand. During your opponents Battle Phase, you may discard 1 card from your hand to remove your opponents attacking monster from play.'**_

"Now I activate my facedown card, The Will of Fire," the generic hologram flipped up to reveal the leaf symbol of Konoha insider of a single, raging flame. "Thanks to this card, all of mine and Alexis' monsters get a little power boost."

'_**The Will of Fire: Continuous Spell- So long as there are two or more Warrior-type monsters on your side of the field, all Warrior-type monster's on your field gain 500 attack points.'**_

Kakashi- Atk 2500-3000

Sasuke- Atk 0-500

Cyber Prima- Atk 2300-2800

"Sadly I can't use Alexis' monster to attack so you have one last reprieve. Kakashi, show them what a real lightning user is capable of, Raikiri!" Kakashi's right hand ignited with concentrated blue lightning. Leaping towards the monster that formed the top half of the feared Gate Guardian, the silver haired jounin easily plunged his hand into the armored monster. The twins shielded their eyes as another of their key monsters exploded in a shower of sparks. "I'll end with a card facedown. I'd make this turn count if I were you, because Alexis will be the one to end this duel on her next turn."

Naruto-Alexis: 6400/Para-Dox: 4300

"A bold claim," said Dox as he drew his card. Placing it and another of the two cards in his hand in his spell and trap card zone, holograms of them appeared on his field. "But what do you expect a little girl to do against one of the most powerful monsters in existence? I activate Monster Reborn and Premature Burial, and for the cost of 800 life points, I can resurrect are two fallen monsters. Arise once again, Kazejin and Sanga of the Thunder!" In identical flashes of light the last two pieces of the brother's puzzle returned to the field.

'_**Premature Burial: Equip Spell- Activate this card by paying 800 Life Points, then target 1 monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Attack Position and equip it with this card. When this card is destroyed, destroy the equipped monster.'**_

Naruto-Alexis: 6400/Para-Dox: 3500

"Now that all three have been brought together again, I will sacrifice them in order to summon your destruction!" The kanji on the three monsters began to glow brightly as the wind once again picked up, "I summon the Gate Guardian!" A pillar of light erupted around the three as the silhouette of the mighty card appeared in the middle of it. The light soon faded, revealing the great beast in all its glory, "You were a fool to believe you actually stood a chance of defeating us. With the Gate Guardian on our side, we are invincible! Now attack his Genin with Tidal Surge!"

'_**Gate Guardian: Atk 3750/Def 3400, Level 11, Dark Attribute, Warrior/Effect- Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing 1 'Sanga of the Thunder,' 'Kazejin,' and 'Suijin.'**_

"I don't think so," said Naruto as his face down revealed itself, "I play the trap card, Cunning of the Shinobi. By discarding a card from my hand, your attack is negated and you take one thousand points of damage." Another invisible barrier stopped the attack just before it reached its intended target. But instead of it fading from existence, the jet of electrified water changed course and struck Dox.

Naruto-Alexis: 6400/Para-Dox: 2500

'_**Cunning of the Shinobi: Counter Trap- Activate when your opponent declares an attack. Discard 1 card from your hand to negate the attack and inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponents Life Points.'**_

Growling in frustration, the green clad brother ended his turn. "Now it's my turn," said Alexis as she drew her card and looked at it. A smirk formed on her lips as she glanced at her partner and saw him nod with a matching smirk. Placing the card with the three already in her hand, the 'Queen of Obelisk Blue' choose another and played it in her spell and trap card zone. "I activate the ritual spell card, Machine Angel Ritual. With this I can summon any Cyber Angel ritual monster I want, so long as I give up the appropriate monsters."

'_**Machine Angel Ritual: Ritual Spell- This card is used to Ritual Summon any 'Cyber Angel' Ritual Monster. You must also Tribute monsters from the field or your hand whose total Levels equal the Level of the Ritual Monster you are attempting to Ritual Summon.'**_

"By sacrificing my Cyber Prima on the field, I can summon one of the new additions to my deck; Cyber Angel Mikoto!" A circle of fire formed around Cyber Prima before she dissolved into hundreds of particles of light. No sooner had she disappeared then did the fire shoot skyward, forming a swirling pillar of flame. Out of that fire stepped one of the most beautiful woman to ever grace the earth; her long, flowing black hair glistened in the light of the flames, framing and accentuating her heart shaped face. Her normal obsidian eyes were replaced by the crimson red of her fully matured Sharingan; while her outfit did nothing to hide the sensuous curves of her body, a fact every male present was thankful for. A skin tight, sleeveless black blouse with a high collar, emblazoned with the Uchiha crest on the back. Skin tight black shorts that stopped just above her knees, black boots and a dark red cloth wrapped around her waist and held in place by a black rope as a make shift skirt completed her outfit. Strapped to the back of her waist was a katana in a black sheath with a miniature version of the Uchiha crest on either side of the hilt.

'_**Cyber Angel Mikoto: Atk 2500/Def 1900, Level 6, Fire Attribute, Ritual/Warrior/Effect- This card can only by Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card, 'Machine Angel Ritual.' If an 'Uchiha' monster is on the field when this card is summoned, you can destroy 1 monster your opponent controls with 2000 or more attack points.'**_

Chakra began to swirl around the newly summoned monster as she drew her katana from its sheath. Without any command from Alexis, the Uchiha matriarch disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared behind the massive guardian. Nothing seemed to have happened until a thin, diagonal line appeared across the Gate Guardian. The feared monster exploded with such force that it shook the entire arena, knocking the standing Dr. Crowler onto his ass. Seeing the utter shock on the faces of the Paradox Brothers, Alexis elaborated for them, "Guess I should've mentioned my monsters special effect; whenever she is summoned, if there is a monster with 'Uchiha' in its name on the field, I can destroy a monster you control so long as it has 2000 or more attack points."

"But that means…" began the brothers before Naruto cut them off.

"This duel is over, and since The Will of Fire is still in play, Mikoto's attack points increase."

Cyber Angel Mikoto: Atk 2500-3000

"Time to end this, Cyber Angel Mikoto, attack them directly!" from her place in-between the brothers, the black haired kunoichi struck first at Dox before throwing her blade and impaling Para.

Naruto-Alexis: 6400/Para-Dox: 0

As Para and Dox's life points reached zero and the holograms faded away, cheering filled the dueling arena as the students shouted praise to the blonde pair. Ignoring the thundering of the crowd, Naruto walked over to his partner and placed a hand on her shoulder. Alexis looked up into the eyes of her secret crush and felt her face begin to warm as he gave her a smile. "You fought well today Alexis, I was honored to have you as my partner for this. You can keep the new cards to, a gift from my father and me."

"Thank you Naruto, but I couldn't have pulled this off without you." Mustering up her courage, the busty blonde stood on her toes and planted a kiss on Naruto's cheek. It was Naruto's turn to blush as many in the crowd began shouting cat calls and wolf whistles at the two. Pulling back, Alexis gave her fellow blonde a smile before turning to wave at the crowd.

Naruto had other ideas though as he grabbed her wrist and pulled his into his chest. Smirking at the now completely red faced Obelisk; the last shinobi turned to the crowd and raised his left fist into the air. The thunderous cheering got that much louder as the students cheered not only for their victory, but the soon to be christened 'Royal Couple' as well.

Up in the stands, Chazz's eyes were wide with fury as he clenched his fists tight. "There's no way that slacker should've won, if it wasn't for Alexis, he would have lost for sure. And how dare he hold _my _Alexis like that? The next time we duel, I'll be sure to put him in his place and Alexis will join me at my side." Not seeing his desired outcome of the duel, the Princeton heir got up and silently left the duel arena with a few of his fellow Obelisk following after him.

'_It can't be, even with Alexis' help, how did they win?' _thought a panicked Crowler, _'It's not fair, why won't he just lose and be out of my hair once and for all?'_

"Well done, that was quite an impressive duel," Naruto and Alexis looked up to see Chancellor Sheppard walk up to the edge of the dueling platform. "It also gives me great pleasure to announce that Naruto will not be expelled from the Academy." Another round of applause rang through the arena, the loudest ones being Naruto's group of friends. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Crowler, come with me please." All color drained from the Obelisk headmasters face as a strange force seemed to carry his frozen body behind Sheppard.

"Exemplary dueling you two, I never doubted you for a second," said Bastion as he and the rest of their group reached them on the arena floor.

"The same can't be said for Chumley and Syrus; I saw them shaking a couple of times during the match." Everyone chuckled or giggled at Mindy's comment while the two Slifer's blushed slightly.

"We weren't shaking because we were worried; we were shaking because of how exciting the match was," Syrus stammered out with Chumley quickly nodding in agreement.

"Uh huh, I'm sure," shot back Jasmine, "But enough of this, we need to celebrate; party at Naruto's place!"

"I'm in!" cheered Mindy.

"Yes, me as well," said Bastion with a nod.

"I'll make my world famous grilled cheese!"

"Count me in," said Syrus before everyone turned to the oldest member of their little circle. Zane's expression didn't falter even once as everyone was giving him pleading looks, with Mindy and Jasmine even unleashing the dreaded Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu. It seemed though, that not even the stoic Zane was immune to the effects of the forbidden technique as he sighed before nodding in agreement. With one last group cheer, the five friends rushed out of the arena and towards Naruto's home.

"Do you think they'll notice that they left us behind?" deadpanned Alexis, who hadn't moved from her place against Naruto's chest. Zane raised an eyebrow at Alexis' position, but decided not to comment on it this time. He'd wait until they were at the party.

"Not likely, but we should probably catch up before they do too much damage to your place." Zane said in his ever stoic voice before he turned and started down the same way the five had gone.

"Yeah, Zane's right, we should get going," wrapping his arm unconsciously around Alexis, the two blondes followed after their friend. They had just made it outside when the last part of Zane's comment registered with the veteran shinobi. "WHAT!? YOU GUYS BETTER NOT BREAK ANYTHING, OR SO HELP ME I'LL…!"

_Secure Research Facility- That Night_

Deep in the jungles that covered Duel Academy Isle and sitting at the base of the volcano was a small, camouflaged structure. The exterior was made completely out of metal with a single watch post on top of it. Inside the maze of hallways within the facility, alarms were sounding as numerous men in suits rushed through the corridors, "Code Red, I repeat, Code red. All personnel, subject W-01 has escaped. Lock down the building and secure the perimeter."

Hiding in the shadows, a small figure waited until a group of men moved past him before running across the hall and entering the ventilation ducks. Moving as quickly as possible, the shadow reached the elevator shafts and swiftly climbed the metal cables. Seeing a window leading to the outside, subject W-01 jumped through it, shattering the glass. Not letting up in his attempt to escape, the test subject leapt over the side of the roof and disappeared into the forest.

_The Next Morning_

"I can't believe Dr. Crowler gave us a pop quiz over your duel with the Paradox Brothers; and most of the questions implied that you did horribly Naruto. I don't know how you put up with it bro," said Syrus as the group of six freshmen walked out of the Academy building.

"Simple, I get payback," said the smirking blonde as he led the group down the path towards the Slifer dorm. They had decided last night to start rotating between the dorms and Naruto's place as their hang out for the day, at said blonde's insistence. It wasn't that he didn't like having his friends over, it was just that it got boring always going to the same place every day.

His five companions gave him skeptical looks but wisely decided that the less they knew, the better they probably were. "Anyway," began Alexis, steering the conversation away from Naruto's nefarious exploits, "What are we going to do today? Other than a report for Banner's class, we don't have any homework."

"I actually have a new deck that needs to be field tested; anyone up for a quick match?" asked Bastion. Syrus and the Obelisk trio all sighed good-naturedly at the Ra genius. It seemed like almost every week Bastion had a new deck that needed to be tested and half the time he would immediately disassemble it, claiming it wasn't up to standard. Naruto shook his head with a small smile on his face; in some ways, Bastion reminded him of his surrogate little brother, Konohamaru. He was always coming up with new ways of solving a problem and constantly challenging him to duels.

"Sure Bastion, I'll duel…" Naruto never finished as his instincts kicked in and he leapt into one of the trees, just in time to avoid a furry object attacking the group. From his place in the tree, Naruto sweat dropped as his friends got into an anime style fight with the strange assailant. As soon as it started, it was over, but not without a small casualty.

"AHHHHH, SOME ONE HELP ME!" Jasmine screamed as she was carried away through the trees.

Naruto cursed as he fell back to the forest floor while his friends all got back to their feet. "Let's go everyone, Jasmine needs our help," with nods all around, the quintet quickly set off in pursuit of Jasmine and her captor. It didn't take long for them to track down their target, largely thanks to Naruto. What they found though, wasn't exactly what they were expecting. On a tree growing out of the side of a cliff was Jasmine and her mysterious captor. To the shock of everyone except Naruto, the assailant wasn't a human, but a monkey.

Even more surprising was what the monkey had on; cybernetic armor covered most of his body with a long, silver and pink helmet completing the ensemble. Strapped to his left arm, was a standard issue Academy Duel Disk with a deck already set in it. "There you are," said a gruff voice from behind the group. From out of some bushes came three men dressed in suits. The shortest of the three stepped forward with his arms crossed behind his back, "Enough of this Wheeler; now are you going come along quietly, or are we going to have to use force." To emphasize the shorter man's point, the one wearing sunglasses aimed a tranquilizer rifle at the simian.

Wheeler it seemed was smarter than most would give credit for. With one hand holding onto Jasmine's arm, he placed the other on her back, ready to shove her off the tree. "Blast, stand down, we can't get him without risking the girl."

"Then let us handle this," said Naruto as he stepped forward, bringing the three's attention to the group of students. "That monkey, Wheeler, has been trained as a duelist correct?" their silence was all the answer he needed, "Then one of us will duel him, and if we win, you release Jasmine, if we lose, you can go free." The last part was directed toward Wheeler, who nodded after a moment.

"Now wait just a minute, you can't…" the man was silenced as Naruto leveled a cold glare on him, along with a focused blast of killing intent that forced them to their knees.

"That wasn't a question," he said, his voice as cold as steel. Everyone else in the area looked at the blonde, eyes wide with shock. They all knew that Naruto was unique and possessed many strange powers that no one else had, but they had never seen him use it like he was now. Though his killing intent wasn't being directed at them, his friends could all still feel a distinct shift in the air. It felt like the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees in a matter of seconds, and whether they believed it or not, they knew that whatever Naruto was doing was the cause of it.

Ceasing the small amount of killing intent flowing out of him, Naruto turned and motioned Bastion forward. "Bastion, you needed to test out that new deck right? Well here's your chance," shaking off the effects of the killing intent, the gray haired duelist nodded and stepped forward. Taking the duel disk Naruto offered him, making a note to ask where the hell he got it later, he slid his newest prototype deck into the slot.

Wheeler left Jasmine on the tree and jumped onto a small boulder across from Bastion. Both deployed their disks and drew their first hands, "Duel!"

Bastion: 4000/Wheeler: 4000

"That monkey can talk!?" shrieked Syrus as he pointed at the monkey duelist.

"Please, that would completely unrealistic," said the short, bearded man as he got back to his feet. "His helmet is designed with the latest in neuro-technology. It simply reads his thoughts and translates it into recognizable speech patterns."

"I shall take the first move if you don't mind," said Bastion as he drew his card. Grabbing another already in his hand, he placed the two in his spell and trap card zone, "I'll start with two cards facedown, then I shall summon the Oxygeddon in attack mode." A pterodactyl like monster made entirely out of green gas appeared with a roar, "I end with that."

'_**Oxygeddon: Atk 1800/Def 800, Level 4, Wind Attribute, Dinosaur/Effect- When this card is destroyed by battle with a Pyro-type monster and sent to the Graveyard, inflict 800 damage to both players.'**_

"My turn, my turn. Draw," the cybernetic voice of Wheeler said. Drawing his card, the simian looked at it through his visor before placing it on his disk, "Berserk Gorilla, attack mode. Next, one card facedown, facedown." An ape that looked like it was on steroids jumped onto the field and pounded its fists on its chest.

'_**Berserk Gorilla: Atk 2000/Def 1000, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Beast/Effect- If this card is in face-up Defense Position, destroy this card. This card must attack if able.'**_

"You've triggered my trap card, Ring of Destruction," one of Bastion's face downs flipped up to reveal a metal ring with eight flames around it. "This trap allows me to select one monster on the field and destroy it, but we both take damage equal to that monsters attack points. I choose Berserk Gorilla," the black ring on the card appeared around the gorilla's neck, "But before that, I activate my other facedown, Ring of Defense. Thanks to this spell card, I won't take any damage from my trap."

'_**Ring of Destruction: Normal Trap- Target 1 face-up monster on the field; destroy that target, and if you do, inflict damage to both players equal to that target's attack.'**_

'_**Ring of Defense: Quick-Play Spell- You can only activate this card in response to the activation of a card effect that inflicts damage. Make the Effect Damage to you of that effect 0.'**_

The ring around the monsters neck glowed, before, with one last snarl of defiance, the great ape was destroyed in an explosion. Wheeler shielded himself as the force of the blast cut his life points in half, while Bastion crossed his arms behind his green shield.

Bastion: 4000/Wheeler: 2000

"It seems he made another mistake. We will have to increase the severity of his punishments," said the short man, forgetting that they were not alone.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man's comment. He understood exactly what he meant by that, having heard tales of the things that went on inside of the Torture and Interrogation unit. Alexis as well seemed to understand, if the quite gasp that escaped her was any indication. But it was Syrus who asked the question that confirmed their thoughts. "What do you mean punishments? What have you been doing him?"

"Merely what is required of us to complete our research. For years, we have been trying to create a new breed of duelist, one whose actions can be completely controlled. Wheeler is our latest success, he is a skilled duelist, but he didn't get to that stage easily. We had to _coerce _him to improve by poking and prodding at him, but it seems that isn't enough. Once this duel is finished, we will return him to the lab for much more severe punishment."

"Sir, that information is top secret. It isn't wise to go around telling people about it, especially worthless teenagers," the tallest member, wearing a black suit said.

"It matters not; there is nothing they can do to stop us. After all, they are, as you said, worthless teenagers." Neither of the scientists saw Naruto's narrowed gaze harden into a piercing glare, nor did they see the spirit of Naruto's mother appear behind them. Kushina gave her son a pleading look, silently asking him to use his chakra to give her corporeal form for a few moments. Though he was sorely temped to allow her to exact the no doubt gruesome vengeance she planned to, the blonde shook his head ever so slightly. His mother's spirit scowled playfully for a moment, but relented, knowing that Naruto already had plans of his own to deal with them.

"Never surrender, never," though his helmet spoke for him, Wheeler screeched in the natural tongue of his species.

"Very well then, it's my move," drawing his card with a flourish, the yellow clad teen looked at the card and his hand before smirking. "The time has come to unleash one of my most powerful monsters. First, I activate the spell card, Double Summon. As its name suggest, I am allowed to normal summon twice this turn, and I have just the monsters in mind. Hydrogeddon and Carboneddon, both in attack mode." A quadruped monster that looked like a slimmed down version of a stegosaurus rose onto the field. Its body was comprised of some kind of brown gas that flowed from head to tail like water. Beside it was a monster that resembled a small, metal velociraptor appeared. It had four dark metal protrusions coming from its back, along with four at the tips of its tail.

'_**Hydrogeddon: Atk 1600/Def 1000, Level 4, Water Attribute, Dinosaur/Effect- When this card destroys a monster your opponent controls by battle and send it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 'Hydrogeddon' from your Deck.'**_

'_**Carboneddon: Atk 800/Def 600, Level 2, Earth Attribute, Dinosaur/Effect- During either player's turn, if this card is in your Graveyard and 10 or more cards are on top of this card, you can remove from play this card from your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 'Hyozanryu' from your hand of Deck.'**_

Bastion placed one of the two remaining cards in his hand into his disks spell and trap card zone. "However, none of these monsters will be staying, for I activate the magic of Combusting Ignition."

'_**Combusting Ignition: Normal Spell- Tribute 1 'Carboneddon,' 1 'Hydrogeddon' and 1 'Oxygeddon.' Special Summon 1 'Fire Dragon' from your hand, deck or graveyard.'**_

"I tribute all three of my monsters to summon the mighty Fire Dragon from my deck," a string of fire shot out of Bastion's deck and struck the field. Out of the resulting blaze rose a dragon made entirely out of fire. It had the serpentine like body of the traditional Chinese dragon, but without any sort of arms or appendages. "Now my dragon, attack Wheeler directly and end this duel!"

'_**Fire Dragon: Atk 2800/Def 2600, Level Eight, Fire Attribute, Pyro/Effect- This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of 'Combusting Ignition.' While this card is face-up on the field, the attack of all Plant and Insect-type monsters become 0. When this card is destroyed and sent the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 'Oxygeddon' from your Graveyard.'**_

Red eyes glaring at its simian prey, the dragon opened its mouth and let loose a white hot stream of fire that consumed Wheeler. Despite being a hologram, the intensity of the flames forced everyone to shield themselves from the heat. Naruto took that as his que to instigate his plan. With no one looking, he silently shunshin'd behind the man carrying the tranquilizing rifle and attached a small paper bomb to the weapon. His task complete, he shunshin'd back to Alexis side just as the flames died down, revealing Wheeler collapsed on the boulder.

Bastion: 4000/Wheeler: 0

"I have won, now honor our agreement and return Jasmine," pushing himself into a standing position, Wheeler nodded once before moving and picking up the redhead bridal style. Walking back onto the solid earth of the cliff, he set her down, letting her run back to her friends.

"Jasmine," said Alexis and Mindy as they embraced their friend. She didn't stay their long though as she turned to Bastion and through her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she gushed as her hold on the Ra student tightened. Red covered Bastion's face as he wrapped his arms awkwardly around Jasmine.

"Um, you're welcome," Naruto and Syrus shared a smirk as their fellow male stammered his reply. One thought passed through both of their minds, _'Blackmail.'_

The mood was ruined however as the bearded scientist made his move, "Enough of this foolishness, take him." The man on his right nodded and aimed the tranquilizing rifle at Wheeler. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a small explosion occurred, destroying the weapon. "What happened?" his question was answered when Naruto stepped between them and the furry duelist, "You? What do you think you're playing at boy?"

"I'm putting an end to your so called research," faster than they could blink, Naruto spun around and reinforcing his hand with chakra, struck several points on Wheeler's armor. The sheer strength behind the blows caused the armor to shatter and fall uselessly off of the monkey's body. "Consider this your one and only warning; leave this island now and we can all pretend this never happened. Refuse and you will soon find yourself and your research all over the news."

The short man glared at Naruto, debating whether or not the blonde could actually carry through on his threat. In the end, the threat or exposure was too great a risk to take. With a reluctant nod and one last glare the trio of scientists quickly left the area.

Alexis was the first to speak up once the group of six were alone. "You know they're going to take every bit of research with them. How do we know they won't try something like this again?"

"You're right Alexis, we can't know if they will try again. All we can do is make sure we are prepared should it happen." With the light of the setting sun casting a golden aura around him, Naruto looked every bit like the wise and powerful leader he was born to be.

Unknown to any of them, a time would come when a powerful foe would rise from the shadows to exact vengeance on their world, and force Naruto to take up his birthright. A time, that was close at hand…

**And there you have it, hope everyone liked it, and if you did, please leave a nice review or constructive criticism.**

**Bye for now,**

**BSW**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everybody, here's the next chapter for Dueling Shinobi. Something I want to point out is that I'm making Syrus more athletic and not as wimpy or scrawny as canon. Also, I apologize for any seemingly one sided duels. I'm still working on creating more evenly matched duels for future chapters.**

**Enjoy**

**Chapter 5- Nightmare from the Past**

Chancellor Sheppard sat in silent contemplation as he thought over how the school year had progressed so far. For the most part everything was going as smoothly as they had in the past; many of his seniors were already being scouted out by possible sponsors, something that always made him smile. The juniors were being prepared for the exams that would determine whether or not they would advance to their senior year, and the sophomores were enjoying the relaxing freedom from any major exams, other than promotions of course. But it was the newest class of freshman that entertained most of his thoughts. They were without a doubt the most skilled batch of students to ever enter the Academy, a fact that wasn't all that surprising given those among the class. The younger siblings of Zane Truesdale, his top student, and Atticus Rhodes, one of the few people who could defeat Zane were bound to be incredible duelists, despite what dorm one resided in. Then there was the rising genius Bastion Misawa, a duelist of science and logic that rivaled the retired professional dueling physicist, Dr. Eisenstein. Though some of the things he had heard and witnessed of the youngest Princeton brother weren't exactly flattering outside of certain circles, no one could deny that the boy had potential to become a duelist as feared as Seto Kaiba.

However, despite all of the potential and natural genius that the freshman class had, one student stood out from all the rest. Naruto Namikaze, a true mystery if there ever was one. When Pegasus had contacted him about enrolling his adopted son at the Academy, he had been more than willing to accept the boy on the spot without a second thought, but before he could get a word in edge wise, the creator of Duel Monsters dropped the proverbial bomb. He explained about the unusual circumstances around Naruto's existence in this time, and how they had come about. That someone so young had experienced things that would make even the most battled hardened soldier pale in fright was a disturbing and hard truth to accept. It was made even worse by Naruto's own admission that he should have died well over three millennia ago along with the rest of the shinobi race. But for every tragic reality, there is always a silver lining.

Thanks to his years of training and experience as a shinobi, Naruto possessed a battle sharpened mind and an ability to turn even the worst of situations into a victory. Something that Pegasus helped him channel into developing his dueling abilities. After his first match, dueling became Naruto's outlet; and with the deck custom made for him, a way for him to honor the memories of his precious people. That was one of the things he respected most about his student; he treated his deck as if it was a part of him, a piece of his very soul.

His computer beeping ended his reverie. Opening the link showed that he had an incoming video call. With a few types on his keyboard he enlarged the video screen, revealing none other than Maximillion Pegasus on the other end of the connection. "Sheppard, it's good to see you again. How's the Chancellor of my favorite school doing?"

"I'm quite well, Pegasus, thank you for asking," he said with a smile, "I take it you didn't call just to chat, so what can I do for you?"

The former holder of the Millennium Eye moved his hand to his forehead and sighed dramatically. "Oh Sheppard, always thinking about work and taking things so seriously, don't you ever just take time to relax? Maybe watching a good cartoon will help ease your mind." Both men shared a good natured chuckle at Pegasus' usual antics before getting down to business, "Actually I called to inform you that I will be sending a package to Naruto-boy in a few months. It is a new prototype deck I designed for him."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it, but why are you…"

"Sheppard," Pegasus cut in, in a rare display of seriousness, "This deck contains power equal to that of the Egyptian Gods and Sacred Beasts. In Naruto's hands it may even be more powerful than that," he trailed off. The Chancellor's eyes widened slightly at the revelation before narrowing as the gravity of the situation set in.

"What do I need to know?"

_Duel Academy Recreation Building_

Unaware of the important discussion taking place, Naruto and the Obelisk trio sat in the stands overlooking the Academy's baseball field. Down on the field the freshmen's from the Slifer and Ra dorms were in the middle of a close game. It was the final inning and Ra Yellow was batting. They were down by one point with one man on second base, but they already had two outs, one more and it was all over for them.

"So do you think Ra can come back and win this?" Alexis asked her fellow blonde with a smile.

With a smile of his own, Naruto leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, "Hard to say, if Syrus keeps pitching the way he has, then Ra is finished. Although," a shout of glee from Alexis' left caused Naruto's smile to turn into a smirk, "Their ace player is next to bat."

"Go Bastion!" squealed Jasmine as the Ra genius stepped up to the plate. Her two friends, even Mindy, the biggest fan girl on the island, shook their heads at Jasmine's behavior, though they couldn't help but smile at it. Ever since the Wheeler incident a week ago the redhead had completely forgotten about her crush on Naruto, choosing to transfer those feelings to Bastion instead. At times Alexis wondered if Naruto had planned for it to happen, but every time she asked him, he would simply smile and shrug off her question.

At the plate, said genius was just about to hit a homerun when Jasmine's voice reached his ears. Instantly blushing, he miss timed his swing and missed the ball. Across from him, Syrus smirked as he readied his next pitch. "Come on Bastion, I thought having your girlfriend cheering for you was supposed to make you play better, not worse."

"She's not my girlfriend Syrus!" shouted Bastion, pointing the bat threateningly at the young Vehicroid duelist. A cry of distress from the stands almost caused him to face fault as his already red face turned crimson, "Just hurry up and pitch the ball you little rat!"

"Whatever you say Bastion," Syrus' taunting earned him another embarrassed glare from his friend. Winding up, the small Slifer let loose a wicked fastball that actually had streams of air coming off of it. This time, Bastion was ready for it; with a mighty swing that cracked the bat, the baseballs flight was redirected and soared over center field and into the storage room behind the field. The Ra's cheered as Bastion rounded the bases and crossed over home plate, giving them the two points they needed to win. Syrus walked up to his friend and held out his hand, "Ah well, good game Bastion. But we'll get you next time."

The gray haired duelist chuckled as he accepted the hand shake, "Don't expect an easy win Syrus, because you won't get one from us." A competitive fire appeared in both of their eyes but a redheaded missile colliding with Bastion brought them out of their stare down.

"Congratulations Bastion, I knew you could do it," blushing once again at the praise from the beautiful girl clinging to his back Bastion stuttered out a word of thanks.

All conversation stopped though as a familiar, shrill voice echoed from inside the storage room, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?" Stomping his way over to the group of silent students was Dr. Crowler, with a new addition. Bastion's homerun shot was planted firmly against the good doctors left eye, not quite dissimilar from a monocle. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, the sound of loud, uncontrolled laughter swept over the field. The source of the laughter was a hysterical Naruto, who was doing his best not to fall out of his seat because of his laughter. "Mr. Namikaze! I shouldn't be surprised, only you could be capable of causing such pain!" that only spurred Naruto's laughter even more as the last part was said in more of a kicked puppy voice.

Not one to allow others to suffer for his mistakes, Bastion gently pushed Jasmine off his back and stepped forward, "It was my fault Dr. Crowler. I hit a homerun and it went into the storage room. If I had known you were back there I would have adjusted my calculations to get a different trajectory."

The ancient gear user gave Bastion a critical look before nodding, "That is very admirable of you Mr. Misawa to accept responsibility for your actions instead of letting others take the blame for it. I shall overlook it this one time, but should this happen again, I will ban all students from this field, do you understand?" a chorus of affirmatives from the gathered students was his answer. Nodding once more the injured professor turned and made his way towards the field exit, "Very well then, carry on."

"Thank you for understanding sir," called Bastion as he shared a sigh of relief with the rest of the students.

'_No, thank you Bastion, for giving me the perfect way to exact my revenge,' _thought Crowler with a dark chuckle.

"Oh man, that was close. I was sure Crowler was going to give us detention for a month. Thanks for speaking up Bastion," said Syrus while he watched Jasmine once again start fawning over the Ra duelist.

"Yeah, you all would have been screwed over then," Syrus jumped almost ten feet in the air when he heard Naruto's voice directly behind him. As he was falling back down to earth, said blonde reached out and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, stopping his fall. "Man Syrus, if I didn't know any better I'd say you borrowed Mindy's vocals for that shriek. It must have broken the sound barrier." The young Slifer flushed crimson while Mindy swatted Naruto's free arm for his little remark.

"Well now that the drama is over, how about we head back to Naruto's place for our weekly round robin duel?" Everyone agreed with Alexis' idea, except for Bastion who offered everyone an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, but I have something I have to do before I can duel today."

Naruto waved off the genius' concern, "Don't worry about it Bastion, we can postpone dueling until everyone is available. What is it you have to do? Perhaps the rest of us could help." Four affirmative nods showed that everyone agreed with Naruto and were willing to help out. Smiling at his friends willingness to help he nodded as well before he and Syrus left to change back into their school uniforms.

A short time later found the group of six walking up the path towards the inviting comfort of the Ra Yellow dorm building. "I just don't get how you always manage to hit homeruns like that Bastion. I mean your even better at baseball than Naruto."

Bastion chuckled, "Well I don't know about that last part, considering he's never actually played before." The small Slifer had the decency to look a little sheepish, "But as to your other question, look," setting down his duffle bag, he picked up his bat and showed them a formula he had written on it, "I play like I duel, with formulas, see? I find that science, statistics, geometry, they play a role in everything we do in life."

The resident male blonde gave a low whistle, "Damn Bastion, I knew you were smart and did things more scientifically, but I never imagined it would be to this extent." _'He's more like Shikamaru than I first thought, and his chakra levels have increased ever since we arrived on the island. Perhaps it is time I started training him as well; if he's even half as good as Shikamaru when it comes to strategy, he will make an excellent ally to have.'_

"Wow, so do you have a formula for everything?" asked Syrus, only to get a chuckle as his answer. It didn't take long for Bastion to lead his friends up to the fourth floor of the dorm, stopping in front of room '468A.'

"Here we are," said Bastion as he pushed the door open and let his friends in, "Welcome to my lab, my workshop and my dorm room." All across the walls, floor and ceiling were countless numeric formulas that seemed to go on forever. There was hardly any part of the room left that wasn't covered in ink of some sort, with the exception of the window and furniture.

"Whoa," was all anyone could manage to say as they continued to look around the room. _'Oh yes, definitely another Shikamaru,' _thought Naruto with a small smirk.

"This is why I wouldn't have been able to duel today. You see, I've memorized most of these, and I'm running out of room. So, since you all volunteered, mind helping?" Bastion said as he pulled out a bucket of paint and a couple of brushes. Soon the room was filled with laughter as the group of six forgot about dueling and class and just allowed themselves to act like ordinary teens. Even Naruto, who thought he would never be able to relax and enjoy himself like he once did before the war couldn't help but forget his worries and enjoy the presence and camaraderie of those he cared about.

"Hey Bastion," called Jasmine, "Isn't this Eisenstein's universal spell card theorem?"

Looking up from where he was wiping down the floor, the Ra genius walked over and knelt next to the redhead. "Indeed it is, Jasmine. I didn't know you were familiar with Eisenstein's work."

Jasmine nodded with a smile, "Yep, I've always been interested in dueling physics. It was the one class I was better than Alexis at back in Duel Prep School."

"Really, do tell," said Bastion as the two began to talk about dueling physics, completely forgetting they weren't alone in the room. The unofficial leader of their group smirked and made a silencing motion to the others in the room. They would let the two have their moment while it lasted, the endless teasing and fun poking could wait for now.

It took a little longer than anticipated to finish painting and cleaning Bastion's room, largely due to Bastion and Jasmine getting so lost in their conversation they forgot to help out. When the two realized what had happened they had tried to apologize, but the others waved it off. After an enjoyable dinner in the Ra meal hall, the group went their separate ways for the night, with Bastion opting to spend the night in one of the spare rooms at Naruto's place.

_Crowler's Office- Later that Evening_

"You wanted to see me, Dr. Crowler?" asked Chazz as he walked into his dorm headmaster's office. Looking up from the paperwork he was filling out, the blonde professor smiled a crooked smile before motioning the teen to take a seat.

"Yes, I have a new task for you Chazz. There is someone I want you to duel tomorrow."

"Please tell me it's that scrub Naruto, I know I can beat him this time. With my new deck he won't stand a chance against me!" to prove his point, the Princeton heir reached into his blue blazer and pulled out his deck. Intrigued as to what kind of deck his protégé had built, Crowler picked up the stack of cards and started leafing through it.

He was only mildly surprised to notice that the deck was a machine based one that focused on the use of union monsters to augment the strength of the decks monsters. "I must admit, I am impressed Chazz. Not many people can build a deck such as this given the rarity of most of the cards required for it. I'm curious though, how did you come to possess such cards?"

Chazz merely smirked as he leaned back in his seat, "There's nothing the Princeton fortune can't buy. I merely made a few calls and had the cards shipped directly to me."

Sharing his students smirk, Crowler placed the deck back on his desk, "Impressive indeed Chazz, you are a true Obelisk at heart; but enough with the pleasantries, it is time we got down to business. I know you are an exceptionally skilled duelist Chazz, I'd expect nothing less from one of my Obelisk's, but as much as it pains me to say, Naruto is just as skilled, if not more so." Raising his hand to stop the impending explosion, Crowler leveled a stern gaze on the young duelist, "Mr. Princeton, do not let your pride cloud your judgment. As duelists we must always keep a clear, level head or we risk giving our opponent the upper hand. Our situation is no different than an ordinary duel, we tried attacking Naruto head on and it failed; now we use other means at our disposal to get the job done."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Chazz asked his displeasure at Crowler's earlier comment about Naruto's skills still clear in his voice. Despite his feelings on the matter though, he knew that Crowler was right; Naruto was indeed a very skilled and powerful duelist, and with who his father is, he was powerful in more ways than one. Normally he wouldn't have minded someone like that being better than him, hell he would have tried to befriend the guy if he had the chance. It was his little speech at the entrance exam that had aggravated him; it didn't matter that he was against the bigotry and resentment of the dorms, it was his remark about Obelisk students almost failing their practical's while Slifer's and Ra's passed without much effort.

While he wasn't amongst those who had struggled in the practical, several of his 'friends' were. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Naruto was right about the skills of some of the Obelisk's; more than half of the freshmen Obelisk's were completely reliant on their private tutoring and their families to get them through the Academy, he just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit that the people he associated with, the ones he called his friends, weren't worthy of their rankings because he was afraid it would reflect badly on him.

A smirk formed on Crowler's face, one that didn't sit well with the Princeton heir, "Simple, by attacking his friends and allies." Fighting a strange tightening in his gut, Chazz kept his face set in one of displeasure as his teacher explained his plan. "If we can manage to cut Naruto off from his friends, than with the right leverage, I can force him to leave the Academy, and that is where you come in. I will arrange a promotion match between you and Bastion Misawa, with stipulations that if he wins, he will be promoted to Obelisk Blue. All you have to do Chazz is lose the duel that way Bastion will become an Obelisk and be within my range of control. And despite how wonderful it would be to see your new deck in action, I believe your Chthonian deck would better serve our purposes in this match."

"How exactly does Bastion being in your control help? It's not like you can stop him from being friends with Namikaze," the tightening in his stomach only got worse when Crowler smirked again.

"You are correct that I cannot stop him from being friends with Naruto, but I can prevent him from being around him. I will swamp Bastion in so much work that he will forget all about spending time with his friends until they completely forget about him as well, it's brilliant!" Not able to ignore the unsettling feeling in his stomach any more, Chazz left Crowler cackling at his own arrogance.

He may have wanted to get revenge against Naruto, but was he really willing to try and forcefully separate the blonde from his friends? Ever since he had stepped foot on the island, Chazz had lost much support from his fellow Obelisks, and those who he called 'friends' had distanced themselves or completely separated themselves from him. That pain was a unique one, one he wouldn't even wish upon an enemy. But that left him in a bind; should he follow Crowler's plan and exact revenge, or swallow his pride and stands by his morals?

Sadly, he would find no reprieve from the feelings assaulting his conscious as a video call from his brothers awaited him in his dorm. "Hello Chazz," said Slade Princeton, the eldest of the three Princeton brothers, "I hope you're putting the money we spent sending you to Duel Academy well." The youngest Princeton brother didn't say anything as he sat down on the blue sectional couch his dorm had.

"So Chazz how is your part of the plan coming along? Have you become the best duelist in your class yet?" Chazz's gaze fell to the floor at Jagger's question, something that wasn't lost on Slade.

"You haven't? What is taking you so long Chazz? With the new deck we sent you, you should be invincible!"

"Give me a break!" the youngest Princeton snapped at his two brothers. Slade and Jagger showed surprise at their brother's outburst, before their eyes narrowed, "I've only been here for two months; I haven't had much time to duel outside of classes. Besides, with Zane still at the Academy my chances of claiming the top spot are slim, and even after that, I still have three more years here after he graduates before I have a shot at the pro-league. It'll take time for me to get to where you want me to be for the plan to start working. You two didn't get to where you are now in a month, so have a little more patience will you?"

"I don't care what you have to say, got it Chazz?" snarled Slade, leveling a cold glare on his younger brother.

Chazz scoffed but grunted out, "Yeah."

"I can't hear you."

"I said yes, I understand."

"Well you had better; remember Chazz, the Princeton Brothers have a plan, Jagger and I are following through with our ends of it."

"And you had better be following through with yours Chazz," said Jagger, picking up where his older brother left off, "Come on just think about it little bro, the worlds of politics, finance, and duel monsters. If we control them all, then we will control the entire world. So be the best, and you better start being the best soon."

"The future of the Princeton family depends on it. It depends on you," with that parting comment, the two brothers severed the call leaving Chazz to mull over his thoughts for the remainder of the night.

_The Next Day_

The six freshmen had just sat down for lunch in the main cafeteria when the last person they expected to see there walked over to join them. "Zane, what are you doing here? You never eat in the cafeteria," said Alexis who was the most surprised at her surrogate brother's appearance, Syrus being a close second.

"Normally I wouldn't but Dr. Crowler asked me to deliver a message to Bastion."

"A message for me, what is it?" asked Bastion.

"He has arranged a promotion match for you as a test to join Obelisk Blue. He didn't mention who your opponent is going to be, only that you were to report to the main arena at seven o'clock sharp this evening." His task complete, the top student on the island got up to leave, "As much as I would like to stay, I have an essay to write for Professor Banner's class. I'll see you guys later."

Thanks to years of hiding his emotions, Naruto was able to keep a straight face despite the suspicion he felt. As much as he wanted to ignore it and simply believe his friend had a chance to earn a well-deserved promotion, his instincts as a warrior would not allow it. That it was Crowler who arranged the match and not the headmaster for the Ra dorm, as was usual procedure, were cause enough for suspicion. Also, the fact that the match was arranged the day after Bastion had unintentionally injured the cross dresser made it even more suspicious.

Syrus asking him a question brought him out of his thoughts. Putting his concerns aside for the time being, the blonde shinobi allowed himself to relax and enjoy the time with his friends.

The sun had sunk low in the sky casting beautiful shades of red and orange on Duel Academy Isle. All across the island paradise students were settling into their dorms to relax and finish the work they had been given for the day, all except our favorite group of duelists. Naruto and his friends had just arrived at the duel arena for Bastion's match only to discover two familiar faces waiting for them. Dr. Crowler had a smirk on his face that was both parts unsettling and maniacal. It was Chazz's expression that caught a few of them off guard though; his usual arrogance was still there, but it almost looked like he was fighting to keep it up. Naruto had to stop himself from flinching, with that expression Chazz looked exactly like Sasuke had before he defected and joined Orochimaru.

"As punctual as ever Bastion," said Crowler, his smirk fell when he caught sight of his least favorite student, "I see you brought friends. I sincerely hope your skills have not been diminished by certain people being around you." It was no mystery that Crowler was referring to Syrus and Naruto with the comment.

"No they haven't," said Bastion as he made his way onto the dueling platform opposite Chazz, "And I would appreciate that you not refer to my friends in such a manner again." The professor gave some halfhearted apology, but everyone knew that he didn't mean a single word of it. "Let's get this duel started, shall we?"

Chazz didn't verbally respond, instead choosing to activate his duel disk silently. Much to the hidden relief of the five students watching, the dark haired youth finally spoke as he and Bastion both shouted, "Duel!"

Bastion: 4000/Chazz: 4000

With an unspoken agreement, Chazz drew his card and begin the duel. Adding the card to his hand, he selected another and summoned it to the field. "I summon Chthonian Soldier," a hologram of the monster card appeared before the armored monster itself took its place. "Then I'll play a card face down and that will do it for now," it was obvious to everyone that Chazz was seriously struggling to keep up his normal arrogance, the way his voice wavered and cracked slightly was proof of that.

"What's wrong with Chazz? He doesn't seem like his normal self," asked Syrus as Bastion summoned his Hydrogeddon and destroyed Chthonian Soldier.

"I don't know Syrus, but whatever happened that caused this must have been pretty bad." Jasmine, Mindy and Syrus nodded in agreement with Alexis, but Naruto remained strangely silent, his face set in a blank mask as the match continued to unfold.

Bastion: 3600/Chazz: 3600

"Your soldier's ability may have caused a little damage Chazz, but my Hydrogeddon has a special ability too. Whenever he successfully destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to immediately summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck." No sooner had the words left his mouth then did another copy of the brown gaseous quadruped appear alongside the first, "And my battle phase still continues, which means I can wage a direct attack against you. So go, Hydrogeddon, Hydro Gust!" Chazz brought his arms up to defend himself as the concentrated blast of gas hit him head on.

Bastion: 3600/Chazz: 2000

When Chazz raised his head after the attack, it revealed that his eyes had dulled slightly, but a burning anger could be seen just below the surface. At least if you knew what to look for, and Naruto was one of those people. _'Those eyes,' _he thought as his memories once again began to surface, _'They are the same as Sasuke's once were.' _Even though the memories of those times hurt, it didn't hurt nearly as much as seeing those same eyes once again.

"You'll pay for that," not even Crowler could fail to miss the falseness in Chazz's arrogance, but unlike the others watching the duel, he didn't think much of it. "I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted. With it I can summon one monster from my graveyard, so raise again, Chthonian Soldier." The fiendish looking warrior returned to the field with a battle cry, "Next I'll activate the spell card, Inferno Reckless Summon. It allows us both to summon, in attack mode, any monsters from our hand, deck or graveyard that are the same as the monsters we already have on the field." Two more versions of Chazz's soldier appeared on the field, while a third Hydrogeddon appeared on Bastion's side.

'_**Call of the Haunted: Continuous Trap- Activate this card by targeting 1 monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in face-up Attack Position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When that target is destroyed, destroy this card.'**_

'_**Inferno Reckless Summon: Quick-Play Spell- When exactly 1 monster with 1500 or less attack is Special Summoned to your side of the field while your opponent controls a face-up monster: Your opponent chooses 1 face-up monster they control, you Special Summon all cards with the same name as the Summoned monster from your hand, Deck, and Graveyard in face-up Attack Position, also your opponent Special Summons all cards with the same name as the chosen monster from their hand, Deck, and Graveyard.'**_

"I don't understand," mumbled Syrus, "Why does Chazz keep summoning out those soldiers, none of them have the attack points necessary to take out Bastion's monsters." His question was answered when Chazz pulled another card out of his hand and placed it in his spell and trap card zone.

"Now that my soldiers are all together, I activate the equip spell card, Chthonian Alliance. The monster equipped with this card gains 800 attack points for every monster that has the same name as him, bringing his attack point total too…"

"3600!" said Bastion as he watched the powered up monster destroy his middle Hydrogeddon.

'_**Chthonian Alliance: Equip Spell- Increase the attack of the equipped monster by 800 points for each face-up monster on the field with the same name as the equipped monster (including itself).'**_

Bastion: 1600/Chazz: 2000

"Oh no," said Syrus, "Bastion just lost over half his life points. If this keeps up, he'll lose the duel." Next to the blue haired duelist, Jasmine clasped her hands in front of her chest, silently hoping that Bastion could turn the duel around and win.

"It's ok Syrus; this is Bastion we're talking about. He'll figure something out," said Alexis, trying to placate the worry everyone felt despite her own. Looking to Naruto in hopes that he would say or do something to help reassure them of Bastion's victory, all she found were eyes that betrayed the turmoil her friend was trying to hide behind a mask. That only served to shift her worry from Bastion's duel, to her secret crush. She may have only known him for a little under two months, but in that time she had never once seen such a haunted look in Naruto's eyes and it pained her to see him in such a state.

For the first time since he was young, Naruto was struggling to keep up the mask he forged to protect himself from all the hate aimed at him as a child. He had experienced many things in his short life, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Nothing could have prepared him to see those lifeless, hate filled eyes again. When he had first seen the one he considered a brother with those eyes, he had managed to fight past the turmoil by hanging on to the hope that he might be able to save Sasuke based on the bond they shared as brothers. Now though, faced with those same eyes again, he found himself struggling to decide what to do. He knew what was likely to happen in the near future, but unlike with Sasuke, he didn't know if he could save Chazz from his inner darkness. They didn't share a bond of friendship or brotherhood, hell the black haired youth still hated his guts, so he had no emotional connection he could use to try and help Chazz. This was one of the worst case scenarios a shinobi could find themselves in; stuck in a volatile situation, no weapons or intelligence of any kind, with an unpredictable threat looming just below the surface.

'_What do I do?' _thought the blonde, _'I could really use my friend's advice, and they're not here to give it.'_

'_But they are here, Naruto,' _the voice of Kushina said as her spectral form appeared at her sons side, hidden from everyone else's sight. _'Look around you, your friends are all around you; Mindy, Jasmine, Bastion, Syrus, Zane, and Alexis especially, they are all here for you. If you would only let them in and tell them the truth about your past, they could help you.'_

'_But what if I fail them, like I failed everyone else? I couldn't live with myself if they suffered through the same fate.'_ Talking about his fallen comrades forced Naruto to close his eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. He had not cried in years, and he didn't plan on starting now.

The red haired spirit sighed slightly at her sons words, even now; he still blamed himself for the deaths of his friends. While it could be one of his most endearing qualities at times, doing everything he could to keep his friends safe, it could also be his greatest weakness should something happen to his friends. _'I know you are scared of what might happen Naruto, but you are a shinobi, taking risks is a part of your life. Also, you are stronger and wiser than before, and I know that if the time calls for it, you will step up and defeat any foe. So suck it up and spill the beans already, if not to all of them, then at least Alexis. That way after you two are done talking, she can comfort you and I can finally be a grandmother,' _she finished with a smirk before she faded out of sight, returning to the realm that housed all duel monster spirits.

An almost unnoticeable smirk formed on the blondes face as his mother's spirit faded from existence, _'Leave it to kaa-chan to turn such a serious subject into a joke,' _he though with a soft chuckle. Looking back to his friends duel, he was met with the sight of Bastion's Water Dragon destroying Chazz's weakened Infernal Incinerator.

Bastion: 600/Chazz: 0

"He did it!" said Syrus as the holograms faded away as the duel ended. Beside the short duelist, Jasmine released a sigh of relief before running onto the raised platform and engulfing Bastion in hug. Said Ra student blushed but returned the hug with one of his own.

"Well done Bastion, well done," the grating voice of Dr. Crowler cut in, "I believe congratulations are in order, and allow me to be the first to welcome you into Obelisk Blue."

"No," said Bastion as he pulled away from his hug with Jasmine.

"Pardon?"

"I'm afraid I must decline that invitation," on the floor, Naruto smiled slightly, understanding Bastion's decision, while everyone else gave the young genius a confused or incredulous look. "When I arrived here at the Academy, I swore that I would only enter the Obelisk dorm after I became the best duelist among the freshman class. By far, out of the entire freshman class, Naruto is the best. Until I defeat him, I will remain in the Ra Yellow dorm." Naruto smile widened as Bastion locked gazes with him, a fiery passion burning in his eyes, "Naruto, soon my dorm will be filled with new formulas and equations, and once I am prepared, we will have our duel."

"Fine by me," said the blonde, "I want to duel you at your best Bastion, so you had best prepare for a long, hard fought battle."

"Believe me, I intend too."

With everyone's attention on the two friends, no one noticed as Chazz silently exited the arena, his eyes lifeless. _'Why can't I defeat them? What is holding me back?' _he thought as his body continued to carry him across the island, with no destination in mind. Finally, after several minutes of walking, Chazz found himself at the docks, standing in front of the yacht that had been sent to deliver his new deck to him. _'Whatever it is, I don't think I'll find the answer here,' _turning to look at the domed building one last time, the Princeton heir walked onto the yacht, _'Goodbye Duel Academy.'_

_The Next Day_

It didn't take long for people to notice the absence of one of Obelisk Blue's promising new freshman, and it took even less time for everyone on the island to be made aware of it. Bastion felt guilty about the situation, because it was discovered Chazz left shortly after their duel, but a few reassuring words from his friends help set him straight. The same could not be said for Duel Academy's resident transvestite, however. Crowler was borderline hysterical when he heard the news, going on and on about how great of a lose it was to the Obelisk dorm that Chazz had left, and how it was all Naruto's fault. It got to the point where Chancellor Sheppard had to give the good doctor a leave of absence, and temporarily take over his classes until his return.

At the Slifer dorm, our favorite group of duelists were in the middle of their round robin duel off, having just finished class for the day. Naruto was seated on the edge of the small building's roof, with Alexis at his side. From their point of view, the two blondes had a perfect view of the duel that was about to be fought on the cliff behind the red dorm. Below them, the other male members of their group were sitting on the wrap around balcony that was built on the dorm, watching as Alexis' two best friends prepared to duel one another.

Jasmine: 4000/Mindy: 4000

"Get ready Mindy, cause I'm not going to take it easy on you," said Jasmine as she drew the top card from her deck and added it to her hand. "To start with, I'll summon my favorite monster, Harpie Lady," a woman with long maroon colored hair appeared on Jasmine's field. However she wasn't entirely human; her arms, hands and feet were replaced with wings and claws that were clearly avian in origin.

'_**Harpie Lady: Atk 1300/Def 1400, Level 4, Wind Attribute, Winged Beast- This human-shaped animal with wings is beautiful to watch but deadly in battle.'**_

"But what's a lady without her friends and a few accessories," said Jasmine, slotting two of her five cards into two of the spell and trap card zones on her duel disk. "I activate Elegant Egotist and Aero Nail, allowing me to special summon the Harpie Lady Sisters and giving Harpie Lady a little boost." A purple wristband, with a long sky blue blade extending from it appeared on Harpie Lady's wrist, while three more avian beauties appeared next to the first. The only difference being the color of their hair and that the new ones were wearing golden plated armor around their bodice and upper arms.

'_**Elegant Egotist: Normal Spell- If 'Harpie Lady' is on the field: Special Summon 1 'Harpie Lady' or 'Harpie Lady Sisters' from your hand or Deck.'**_

'_**Aero Nail: Equip Spell- Equip only to 'Harpie Lady.' It gains 300 Atk. If this face-up card on the field would be sent to the Graveyard, you can equip this card to another 'Harpie Lady' on the field instead.'**_

'_**Harpie Lady Sisters: Atk 1950/Def 2100, Level 6, Wind Attribute, Winged Beast/Effect- Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned with 'Elegant Egotist.''**_

Harpie Lady- 1300- 1600

"That's all for now, so I'll end with two card's facedown," as the generic holograms of the cards appeared behind Harpie Lady, Jasmine shot Mindy a smirk, "Your turn Mindy, better make it count."

Returning the smirk, Mindy drew her card from her deck, "Oh don't worry about me Jasmine you should worry about yourself. I summon Gladiator Beast Laquari." Now, to anyone who didn't know her personally, Mindy would probably strike them as your typical female duelist; preferring beauty over power, and likely to use a very feminine type of deck. The powerful and ferocious, bipedal tiger that appeared in front of Mindy, wearing orange gladiator armor and surrounded by a ring of fire trounced that assumption.

'_**Gladiator Beast Laquari: Atk 1800/Def 400, Level 4, Fire Attribute, Beast-Warrior/Effect- If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a 'Gladiator Beast' monster, its original Atk becomes 2100. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked: You can shuffle it into the Deck; Special Summon 1 'Gladiator Beast' monster from your Deck, except 'Gladiator Beast Laquari.''**_

"I still can't get over the fact that Mindy of all people uses Gladiator Beast's," said Syrus, getting a nod of agreement from his dorm mate.

"I know what you mean," said Chumley as he enjoyed one of his famous grilled cheeses, "And how did she even manage to build a deck using them anyway? I mean they're a new series and Industrial Illusions only released them this past summer, and even then they were only distributed to private, specialty stores and shops."

"That may be," the voice of Naruto said, drawing the attention of the three males on the balcony, "But Mindy's father is one of Pegasus' business associates and a very good friend of his as well. It's not that far a stretch of the imagination to think he might have been able to get her the necessary cards to make that deck." Taking his eyes off of the duel for a moment, the blonde duelist smirked down to his three fellow males, "Let this serve a lesson for you three; always consider all possibilities and contingencies, to do otherwise, could lead to your defeat."

While Naruto imparted yet another important life lesson to his friends, Mindy slid a card into her duel disk, "Laquari may be strong, but like you said Jas, a few accessories never hurt. I equip him with Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica, making him invincible in battle." A black gauntlet appeared around the beast-warrior's bare right arm, with a matching rerebrace appearing around its bicep, a large orange jewel in the center of it. "Now attack Harpie Lady with Searing Tiger Claw."

'_**Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica: Equip Spell- Equip only to a 'Gladiator Beast' monster. It cannot be destroyed by battle (Damage calculation is applied normally). When the equipped monster is returned from your side of the field to the Deck and this card is sent to the Graveyard, return this card to your hand.'**_

The ring of fire surrounding the bipedal tiger began to shrink and cover its left arm. Once the flames had fully encompassed the appendage, Laquari surged forward and prepared to deliver a fatal blow to the avian woman. "Not so fast Mindy, I activate my trap card, Mirror Wall. This handy little trap cuts your monsters attack in half, and even though it might be invincible, your life points aren't." A crystal wall appeared around Jasmine's side of the field, forcibly extinguishing Laquari's flaming arm. Almost as soon as the wall appeared, it was gone, leaving Mindy's monster with half its original strength.

Laquari- 1800- 900

'_**Mirror Wall: Continuous Trap- Each of your opponent's monsters that conducted an attack while this card was face-up on the field has its Atk halved as long as this card remains on the field. During each of your Standby Phases, pay 2000 LP or destroy this card.'**_

As soon as the warrior tiger was within striking distance, Jasmine's Harpie Lady raised its right, clawed hand and swung its Aero Nail down to destroy the monster. Laquari was spared from the graveyard though, as he raised his right arm, blocking the sky blue blade with his Battle Manica. The shockwave however, carried all the way back to Mindy, dropping her life points by seven hundred.

Jasmine: 4000/Mindy: 3300

To everyone but Naruto's surprise, Mindy didn't look bothered by her life points dropping, in fact she was smiling. "Nice try Jas, but now that my battle phase is over, Laquari's effect activates; you see whenever a Gladiator Beast monster attacks or is attacked, they can 'tag out' and let another gladiator take their place. So by returning Laquari to my deck, I can special summon one of his brothers to take his place, like Gladiator Beast Dimacari."

'_**Gladiator Beast Dimacari: Atk 1600/Def 1200, Level 4, Earth Attribute, Beast/Effect- If this card was Special Summoned by the effect of a 'Gladiator Beast' monster, it can attack twice during each Battle Phase. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked, you can return it to the Deck to Special Summon 1 'Gladiator Beast' monster from your Deck, except 'Gladiator Beast Dimacari.''**_

After Laquari vanished back to Mindy's deck in a flash of fire, Dimacari burst out of the earth and took his place on the field. The purple Cape buffalo snorted in anger as he raised his gauntleted arms, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Oh and I should probably mention that when Battle Manica is sent to the graveyard by the effect of a Gladiator Beast, it is returned to my hand. So now I'll equip it to Dimacari, and I'll also equip him with another weapon, the Gladiator Beast's Battle Gladius." As the familiar rerebrace appeared on Dimacari's arm, a gold bladed dagger, with an intricate black handle inlaid with several blue gems materialized before the monster, and was quickly grasped by its left hand.

'_**Gladiator Beast's Battle Gladius: Equip Spell- Equip only to a 'Gladiator Beast' monster. It gains 300 Atk. When this equipped monster is returned from your side of the field to the Deck and this card is sent to the Graveyard, return this card to your hand.'**_

Dimacari- 1600- 1900

"And with one last card facedown, I'll hand things over to you," said Mindy, slotting a card into her duel disk.

The red haired Obelisk drew her card with a silent smirk on her face; it had been quite a while since the two best friends had dueled, and both of them had grown significantly stronger since their first days at duel prep. Looking at the card she had drawn, her smirk widened as she showed it her opponent. "I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, but I have to discard two," even as she discarded half of her hand to the grave, Jasmine's smirk never wavered, and her next card showed why. "Now I activate Monster Reborn, allowing me to summon the monster I just discarded to the field. So say hello to Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon."

'_**Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon: Atk 1200/Def 600, Level 4, Wind Attribute, Dragon/Effect- This card gains effects based on the number of 'Harpie' monsters you control, except 'Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon.' 1 or more: Your opponent cannot target 'Harpie' monsters you control for attacks, except 'Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon.' 2 or more: Double the original Atk and Def of this card. 3 or more: Once per turn: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target.'**_

A smaller, almost chibi version of the mighty dragon rose onto Jasmine's field, its wide innocent eyes glaring at Mindy in a way that could only be described as adorable. On the balcony, Syrus sighed at the monsters cuteness, thoroughly taken with it. Naruto and the other males watching the duel looked at the young slifer as if he had grown a second head, while Alexis giggled behind her hand. Syrus was a sucker for cute and beautiful duel monster cards.

However, Mindy knew exactly what her best friend's new monster was capable of, and wasn't about to let her have a chance to use it. "Sorry Jas, but your dragon isn't going to stay for long, because I activate my trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device."

'_**Compulsory Evacuation Device: Normal Trap- Target 1 monster on the field; return that target to the hand.'**_

"Not so fast, Mindy," said Jasmine, revealing her other facedown card, "I'll counter your trap with one of my own; Trap Stun."

'_**Trap Stun: Normal Trap- Negate all other Trap Card effects on the field this turn.'**_

"Oh no fair Jasmine, I showed you that card," the expression on Mindy's face took away any heat her words might have held.

"Sorry Mindy, but I'm not gonna let you win that easy." Taking the last card in her hand, Jasmine placed it next to her dragon on the field, "And now it's time to end this duel. I'll start by summoning another Harpie Lady in attack mode, and since I have three Harpie monsters on the field, I can activate all of my Pet Dragon's effects. Meaning his attack doubles, and I can destroy one card on your side of the field, so say bye to Dimacari."

Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon- 1200- 2400

The jewel imbedded in the black crown worn by Jasmine's monster began glowing before a single beam of light shot forward and impacted with Gladiator Beast Dimacari, destroying it in a shower of light particles. With nothing to defend herself with, Mindy could do little more than watch as her best friend's monsters attacked her, reducing her life points to zero.

Jasmine: 4000/Mindy: 0

"Nice duel Mindy," said the red head, as she walked over and shook her friend's hand. Mindy smiled as the two of them deactivated their duel disk, and stowed their decks in their proper cases.

"You too Jasmine, but I'll get you next time."

"We'll just have to see about that."

**There you go. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time.**

**BSW**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapters serves as one of the main diverging points with canon, so I hope everyone is able to follow along and continue to enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 6- Hidden Doors, Revealing Contracts**

Naruto stood alone at the base of the far side of the volcano that resided on Duel Academy Isle. Night was fast approaching, the sky cast in many shades of orange, red and the beginnings of blue and purple. A brisk breeze swept through the clearing, caressing the skin of the blondes exposed arms, and reminding him why he was the only soul still on the island. The first semester at Duel Academy had gone by relatively quickly after the fiasco with Chazz's departure. No one, not even the black haired duelists so called friends, seemed to care that he had left, even Crowler had gotten over his leaving rather quickly after his two weeks of leave. That thought caused Naruto to frown, while he may not have exactly liked the stuck up Obelisk he at least appreciated his dueling prowess and considered him as a rival in some regard. With that in mind, he had decided that, in the event of Chazz's return to Duel Academy, he would at least be more courteous towards him and if the youth returned the sentiment, he would extend a hand of friendship.

The only other moments of interest had been when Bastion finally worked up the courage to ask Jasmine to be his girlfriend. Though, the verbal lashing Naruto gave him along with the blonde's threat of beating the genius from one end of the island to the other if he didn't hurry up and ask the redhead out probably helped move that along. After that, the rest of the semester had been all around quiet and honestly a little boring to the former shinobi. Sure he got to duel quite a bit and occasionally knock a stuck up Obelisk down a peg or ten, but to someone who was used to the danger and adventures the life of a shinobi brought, it was downright dull by comparison.

That is what brought Naruto out to the forest this night, to help alleviate that boredom, and keep his skills sharp at the same time. _'You ready sweetie?'_ Naruto opened his eyes and saw that his mother's spirit had appeared in front of him. A smirk spread across his face as he closed his eyes again in concentration, calling upon his chakra for what felt like the first time in a long time. His right hand ignited in a fiery blue blaze, the density of his chakra becoming too great to contain within his body. Raising his hand, Naruto placed his index and middle fingers to his mother's translucent forehead, transferring his chakra into her spiritual form. Slowly, the spectral form of Kushina began to solidify as her son's chakra gave her physical form once again.

Retracting his hand from his mother's now physical form, Naruto took a step back and the two shared a smile before schooling their faces into neutral masks and leapt away from each other, landing on either side of the clearing. "Small scale ninjutsu and taijutsu only, we can't risk discovery or destroying the island by accident," said Naruto, settling into a loose stance, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but are you really one to talk about nondestructive jutsu?" taunted Kushina, settling into a stance of her own and sizing up her soon to be opponent. Naruto had fore gone his usual attire, instead opting for something more suitable for shinobi. Loose fitting black pants, with shuriken holsters sown in on either side, similar to those once worn by Anbu, lead down to black, shinobi style sandals. On his torso was a simple white fighting gi, held together by a white sash around his waist. The upper part of his gi was left open, revealing the mesh armor he had underneath it. His wrists were bound in white tape, and he had taken his old Konoha headband from his arm and placed it where it was truly meant to be worn. Finishing off the blondes outfit, was her former katana, tucked into the sash holding his gi together, reminiscent of a samurai.

While Kushina was sizing him up, Naruto was doing the same with her; she was wearing the same outfit that Pegasus had designed for her duel monsters card. Skin tight black shorts that reached mid-thigh, along with black stockings that went from her sandal covered feet to just a few inches beneath were her shorts ended. She also had on a shortened, crimson red battle kimono held together by a black obi. On her back was a copy of the katana Naruto now wielded, and even though it wasn't the original, the blonde knew it still possessed the same powers as the one at his hip.

Grasping the sheath of his blade with his left hand, Naruto placed his right hand over the hilt of the katana, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "Ready?" seeing the stance her son had taken, Kushina grasp the hilt of her own blade, "Hajime!" Faster than the normal human eye could see, the two fighters closed the distance between them, the clashing of their blades whipping up a gale of wind. Breaking away from their deadlock, the two combatants jumped back from each other, before charging back in to engage in a deadly dance of blades.

Naruto ducked under a swing that would have taken his head off, and retaliated with an upward swing that would cleave his mother in two. However, Kushina wasn't known as one of Konoha's greatest swordswomen for nothing. She jumped and swung her body so her feet were up in the air while simultaneously positioning her katana to block Naruto's strike. The two swords met, and the momentum Naruto's swing generated was enough to push his mother's airborne body higher, just as she had planned it would. Contorting her body so that she was parallel with the ground, and with a quick surge of chakra, Kushina began to spin into a high speed barrel roll, her katana little more than a blur as she fell back towards her son. The blonde cursed as he was forced to parry his mother's attempts to cut him to ribbons. He was so focused on deflecting her katana that he didn't notice when one of Kushina's hands touched down on the grassy clearing or the helicopter kick that sent him sprawling towards the edge of the clearing.

"Come on Naruto-kun, we both know you're better than this," said Kushina, a frown marring her features as she watched her downed son get to his feet.

A chuckle sounded throughout the clearing, though it wasn't coming from either combatant. "You're right, but have you forgotten about my favorite technique?" Kushina gasped as the Naruto she had been fighting disappeared in a cloud of smoke. That single lapse in focus was all the opening the real Naruto needed to appear behind his mother and send her sprawling with a powerful kick to her back. The blonde chuckled again as he watched his mother get to her feet and glare daggers at him, "Well you did ask for my best didn't you kaa-chan?"

"If that's how you want to play, then I guess I better step things up," sheathing her katana, Kushina flew through a short series of seals, instantly putting Naruto on edge. "Suiton: Exploding Water Colliding Wave," her cheeks swelled as she kneaded her chakra into water before expelling an incredible wave of water towards Naruto. Said blonde shinobi prepared to counter with his katana, only to find himself incapable of moving as numerous glowing chakra chains erupted from the ground, trapping him in place.

Seeing that he had no way of escape and the massive wave of water was fast approaching, Naruto had only one thought, _'Well, this is gonna suck.' _With that the wave crashed down on him, sweeping away everything in sight, only stopping when it met resistance in the form of the islands volcano.

Kushina took a deep breath after ending the flow of water from her lungs. She had put a lot of chakra into that technique, more than what was particularly necessary, but she couldn't help being vengeful, and that kick Naruto had gotten her with was a cheap shot! _'But then again…' _she thought as she watched the raging waters of her technique slam into the face of the volcano over and over again, "Maybe I went a little over board, sure hope Naruto-kun's alright."

"Your concerns touching kaa-chan," the fiery redhead stiffened as she felt the cold steel of a blade being pressed against her jugular, "But as you can tell, I'm fine."

"How?" she asked as Naruto pulled his katana away from her neck, both knowing he had won the spar.

"You can thank tou-san; he's the one who left me the technique."

"Hiraishin," deadpanned Kushina, "You know you and father could be real pains in the ass with that technique. It takes the fun out of sparring when all you have to do is teleport to one of your markers." Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as his mother began another rant about the Hiraishin. Despite her status as a legendary kunoichi, Kushina still retained a childish streak that had a tendency to raise its head whenever she got worked up, like right now.

'_Guess I know who I inherited that personality trait from,' _just as he was about to speak up and put an end to the kunoichi's rant, a purple glow caught his attention. There, on Kushina's back, was the Hiraishin marker he had placed on her, shining with an ominous purple glow. _'What the hell? The jutsu-shiki never glows, not unless…' _"Oh shit, kaa-chan, move!" faster than she could react, Naruto ripped off the part of her shirt that had his marker on it and pulled her away just before a dark pillar of energy consumed the area they had vacated.

"What the fuck is that, 'ttebayo!?" the redhead shouted, her old verbal tick coming through.

"Trouble," pulling himself and Kushina to their feet, Naruto narrowed his eyes towards the swirling pillar of energy, "When I duplicated the jutsu-shiki of the Hiraishin, I added an identification formula that was keyed to my chakra, only allowing me to utilize the marker. But should anyone else or any outside source of chakra attempt to use the marker, it would begin to glow, informing me of the interference."

"So someone managed to force their chakra into your marker, and is likely trying to teleport to its location," Kushina summarized as she drew her katana again, readying it for a fight.

"Most likely," said Naruto as he copied his mother's stance, "And whatever it is, it's powerful. It took nearly a half of Kakashi-sensei's chakra to overwhelm the identification formula, and that was without trying to teleport to it." That gave Kushina pause as the implications of what they might be facing became apparent. While she and Naruto were considered 'chakra monster' due to their enormous reserves, built up over the years of containing Kurama, Kakashi was no pushover either. His reserves had been tempered by the constant drain of his implanted Sharingan, granting him chakra levels easily comparable to those of the five kage. If it had taken him using half that power just to break through the defenses on Naruto's formula, then whatever was coming through to face them was as strong as any kage had ever been.

A humanoid shadow appeared within the field of energy, standing at a towering eight feet tall with long, gangly arms. Slowly, the pillar of energy began to dissipate, revealing the new arrival in their entirety. They were covered from the neck down in a dark, reflective green overcoat with a metallic piece of armor that covered their shoulders and upper chest. Also, spiked metallic wristbands with a matching belt and spiked collar finished the outfit. Naruto knew instantly who this being was, and the veined, deformed face covered by a green facemask confirmed it. It was a duel monster that had been made famous by Joey Wheeler during the Battle City Tournament; Jinzo.

"Finally," when the masked duel spirit spoke, it was a deep raspy sound that set your nerves on end, "I am free and it is time my masters will was done."

"Master?" whispered Kushina, "Who the hell is he talking about?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it," answered Naruto, his hardened gaze trained solely on Jinzo. "Jinzo," the physic monster finally acknowledged their presence with what could only be a withering glance, "How did you get here? You may be a powerful spirit, but there is no way you should have been able to bring yourself here under your own power." Jinzo's response to Naruto's accusation was to begin chuckling; a deep, hollow sound that grated the blondes already frayed nerves.

"Very perceptive of you... Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." The two ninja widened their eyes at the mention of Naruto's true name.

"How do you know who I am?"

"My master told me," said the duel spirit simply, uncaring of the numerous questions that answer gave the duo, "You see, it was he who sensed the opening between dimensions your power created, and it was he who opened the doorway for me to enter this world. Now be gone, it is time I completed the task he has given me."

"Sorry pal, but whatever this task of yours is, you'll have to get through us first," with that, both mother and son charged the duel spirit, moving to attack from either side.

"If you stand in my way, then you shall be destroyed," raising his arms towards the advancing pair, two spheres of dark psychic energy formed in his palms. In the time it took to blink, the two attacks had left Jinzo's palms and were almost on top of Naruto and Kushina. The psychic monster was moderately surprised when neither warrior so much as blinked at the lethal attack. The redhead held up her right hand where a glowing blue seal wrote itself into the air and absorbed the sphere of energy before moving in for a low strike. The blonde was less flashy in his counter, but his was even more surprising. His blade just simply cut through the energy, but there was no glow, no flare, no sign that he had used any kind of extra power or reinforced his sword, he just simply cut right through it.

The malevolent duel spirit didn't have time to register his own surprise before he found himself in a precarious situation; two swords quickly moving to carve him apart, one high, one low and he had no room to dodge or avoid. With a growl, he raised his hands again, forming a field of psychic energy around him to deflect the two attacks. That planned worked against Kushina, but against Naruto, the shield might as well have not been there at all.

Jinzo released a pained cry as Naruto's katana sliced clean through his shield and removed his right arm at the shoulder. But instead of falling to the ground, the severed appendage simply faded into oblivion. While the psychic monster howled in agony, the two veteran shinobi capitalized on the blatant opening Jinzo had left in his guard. Naruto made quick work of relieving Jinzo of his other arm, while Kushina placed a chakra suppression seal and immobility seal on the manifested spirits back.

What they weren't expecting however, was for their new prisoner to begin laughing, the dark, humorless noise tempting Naruto to cleave the spirits head from his body. "My master said you were powerful, and he was right. Know this however, you may have defeated me, but I am merely a scout in my master's army. Soon, you shall face my master's true power, and when that time comes, I will enjoy watching as he destroys you."

"That's where you're wrong, whoever this master of yours is, he'll be the one falling to my blade." Naruto raised his sword above his head in a classic two hand grip, ready to put an end to the annoying spirits existence.

His mother's hand on his arm stopped him, "Not yet Naruto-kun, first we need to find out why this master of his sent him here in the first place."

"You're right," said Naruto as he lowered his katana and sheathed it at his side, "So do you want to do the honors, or shall I?"

"I will, you still haven't quite mastered using the seal yet and we don't want to risk missing any vital information." Naruto simply nodded and stood back to watch his mother put her mastery of seals to work. Forming a half ram seal with her left hand, Kushina placed her hand on top of Jinzo's head.

"Whatever it is you're planning, it won't work. I will never reveal my masters secrets!"

"You don't have to, because my seal will do it for you; Fuinjutsu: Mind Assimilation Seal!" A small but complex sealing array spread from Kushina's hand, wrapping itself around the deformed visage of Jinzo. The duel spirit threw its head back in a silent scream as his mind was slowly picked apart by the fuinjutsu mistress's expertise. Once its task was complete, the sealing array receding back into Kushina's hand, leaving the now brain dead Jinzo to collapse in a heap.

"What did you find?"

Kushina frowned and folded her arms across her chest, "Unfortunately not much," the irritation she felt was easy to spot, "He was telling the truth when he said he was merely a scout though, he didn't even know his masters real identity, only the title he goes by; The Supreme King. The only useful information I was able to glean from him were the details pertaining to the mission he had been assigned. He was sent here to find areas where chakra is in abundance, so that they may be exploited and used as doors to bring the forces from the duel spirit world to this world."

Sapphire eyes widened at the implications behind those words, "Are you talking about, an invasion?"

"Exactly," nodded Kushina, the troubled look on her face matched by her sons. "But besides that, there was nothing else of use in his mind. And without enough information, we can't plan a proper defense. Hell we don't even know where these supposed doors are, or how to find them."

"Well Jinzo was sent to locate them wasn't he?" his mother nodded again, confused as to where Naruto was going with this, "Then he must have had a way to track them down. Did you find anything about that in his mind?"

Closing her eyes in concentration, the redheaded kunoichi meticulously went through the information she had acquired from Jinzo, searching for anything relating to the doors he had been sent to find. Finally, she found it, a single piece of information that she had almost overlooked, "Duel spirits, in their spirit form, can sense these locations, being naturally drawn to them because of the large amounts of chakra they possess."

"Then that's how we'll find them, or I should say, how you'll find them," said Naruto, a small smirk spreading across his lips, "In your spirit form, you should be able to detect these areas and feel the pull they have on your spirit. When you find an area, find out all you can about it before moving on to the next. Once you think you've found all the places that could potentially be used as doorways, return to me and we can plan our next move from there."

"You're sending me away on a mission?" asked the still corporeal spirit in surprise, though there was an undertone of excitement that Naruto picked up on.

"Yes, and don't worry about me, I'm sure I can survive a couple weeks or months without you, though to put your maternal instincts at ease, I'll summon you here if I need anything, ok?" the concern that had been visible in Kushina's eyes instantly evaporate with Naruto's promise. She knew her son was more than capable of handling himself, but her maternal instincts would always tell her to stay close and keep an eye on him to make sure he was safe. So with her worries elevated, Kushina released the chakra Naruto had given her, and slowly faded back into her spirit form. "Be careful kaa-chan, don't do anything reckless."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that? After all, I am your mother," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah, now get going, the sooner you find the doorways, the sooner you can come back and start harassing me again." Kushina stuck her tongue out in response to Naruto's comment before she faded completely from sight. Naruto shook his head at his mother's antics, before his eyes settled on the prone form of Jinzo, "Well, seeing as we got everything we wanted out of him…"

With speed worthy of a shinobi of his caliber, Naruto had drawn his katana and rendered the spirits head from body, watching as the headless body faded into oblivion. Sheathing his blade for the final time that night, Naruto looked to the sky, his heart becoming heavy as he thought about this new turn of events, _'Even after all these years, the drums of war have begun to sound again.'_

_Duel Academy Gymnasium- A month later_

The sun shone brightly down on Duel Academy Isle, bathing it in its warm rays. Most of the Academy's students were out enjoying the peace and tranquility the island provided, occasionally ruining that peace with a duel or two. But for the freshman class, they were having their first gym class of the new semester, and not everyone was exactly enjoying it.

"Can someone please tell me again, how exactly this sport is relevant to dueling?" asked Naruto, standing along the side of the gymnasium, watching as everyone else participated in one of the strange sports mankind had come up with since the end of the shinobi era. _'Seriously, why bother playing these sports that hardly class as exercise when you could have a nice, friendly spar?'_

He got his answer from Mindy, who seemed to be rather enjoying herself, "Everything Naruto, taking turns, thinking on your feet, and the harder you play, the better you do." To prove her point, she hit the tennis ball harder than before, nearly knocking Syrus's racquet out of his hand as he tried to hit the ball back.

The shinobi turned duelist scoffed at that, not to dissimilar from a certain Uchiha he considered his brother. "Yeah right, I'll take a good old fashioned spar over this any day," he mumbled under his breath. It was at that point that Miss Fontaine, the Academy's gym instructor/nurse, walked by where Naruto was and heard what he had said. Just as she was about to ask what exactly he meant by that, and possibly reprimand him for his dangerous choice of past time, Syrus' shout of alarm filled the gym.

"Alexis, look out!" all eyes immediately snapped to the little blue haired duelist, before shifting to the blonde Queen of Obelisk Blue. The reason for Syrus' warning was easily apparent; a tennis ball was heading right for Alexis' head, likely from Syrus' attempts to return Mindy's overzealous swings. That was all the warning Naruto needed as he blurred forward, placing himself in front of Alexis and effortlessly catching the ball. Apparently, he wasn't the only one that wanted to save Alexis, because only a few seconds after the threat had passed, a guy wearing the standard tennis club uniform jumped in front of the two blondes, ready to hit the wild shot away.

It took a moment for the new person to register that the threat had already been dealt with, and his attempts to play the hero had been crushed. Quite a few of the freshman laughed at the look of confusion that spread across his face, quickly turning that confusion to rage. He whirled around, ready to rip into the person that had taken the spot light from him, only to stop as he caught sight of the vision beauty that was Alexis.

A blush spread across the love struck puppy look that now adorned his face, _'That's Alexis Rhodes…'_

His thoughts were brought to a crashing halt as Naruto turned to address Alexis, "You ok, Alexis?"

Completely ignoring the other guy that had tried to help her, Alexis smiled at her fellow blonde. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to you Naruto-kun." Naruto raised an eyebrow at the use of the old Japanese suffix, causing Alexis to giggle behind her hand and wink. That brought a smile to the blondes face, it had been so long since he had heard his name said like that by anyone besides his mother, and he had to admit, he liked it. The fact that it was Alexis who said it just made it all the better. Before his mind could fully process the meaning of that last thought, someone behind him made their presence known, and they didn't sound too happy.

"Hey you Slifer trash, what do you think you're doing talking to someone like Alexis Rhodes? You're not worth hers or anyone's time!" By now the wannabe hero was nearly at the end of his rope; he had missed his chance to play hero and instead wound up embarrassing himself in front of most of the freshman class. The fact that the first thing he noticed about the guy who had saved Alexis, was the red jacket he had on, just added fuel to the fire. _'A Slifer? One of those Slifer Slackers saved Alexis? That should've been me, who the hell does this guy think he is!?'_

The bigotry and arrogance rolling of this guy in waves instantly killed Naruto's good mood. _'I didn't think it was possible, but it looks like this guy has an even bigger ego than both Sasuke and Chazz,' _he thought as he and Alexis finally acknowledged the guy. He appeared to be one of the older people on the tennis courts, probably an upper class men, but Naruto could've cared less about that. He had dulled reddish brown hair that reached a little past his shoulder with bangs that swept to the side. His attire consisted of the typical Duel Academy tennis uniform, a metallic purple shirt with the Academy insignia on the left breast and white shorts that looked they would be more at home on a female instead of a male. The guy was also well built, not in the chiseled manner years of training and hard work brought, but in a bulkier, less refined way, probably because he used some of those muscle enhancers, steroids they were called, Naruto had heard about. "First, I'm not a Slifer, I'm not even ranked. Second, I think I was talking to a good friend of mine and third, who the fuck do you think you are?"

The entire freshman class tensed as at the tone in Naruto's voice. The blonde was well known among his peers as being a kind, laid back and supportive person who was glad to help out and give out some pointers to his fellow duelists. But they had never seen him like this, not this angry. Sure there was that time when he fought off the Disciplinary Action Squad, but he had been more annoyed then angry. Now though, they were all getting their first look at an angered Naruto Namikaze.

A smirk, complete with shining teeth, crossed the upper class men's face as he introduced himself, "I'm Harrington Rosewood, heir to Rosewood Sports. Now I'll ask again, what do you think you're doing talking to my little Obelisk Pixie?"

Naruto's frown deepened as he turned to face Harrington fully, "Alexis is no ones, she is her own person. What she does and who she talks to are none of your concern." Behind him, the frown Alexis had when Harrington called her 'his' melted into a warm smile as Naruto defended her. All around them, girls were having the same thoughts as Alexis, all of them wishing that they were in her position; well, except Jasmine, who was leaned against Bastion's side watching the drama unfold.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Harrington's callous dismissal to what Naruto said, earned him quite a few glares from the females present. "Listen pal, I'm willing to be the bigger man here, so just walk away and learn not to mess with another guy's girl, and we can forget this whole ordeal ever happened." Even Miss Fontaine couldn't help but glare at the tennis star for that. She may have been a teacher and supposed to be impartial when it came to helping students resolve conflicts, but she was also a woman, and no woman could help but be angered by the vitriol spewing from Harrington's mouth.

Naruto, being the chivalrous gentlemen that he is, didn't exactly take kindly to the things this guy was saying either. "Are you deaf or just plain stupid? I told you, Alexis is her own person, she is allowed to make her own decisions, and no one can make them for her!"

Harrington frowned as he crossed his arms and glared at Naruto, "You don't get it do you freshman? Well I shouldn't be surprised, you are a Slifer Slacker. But I'll try and spell this out for you. I always get what I want, and no one gets in my way." The tension in the air could've been cut with a knife as Naruto crossed his arms and met Harrington's glare with one of his own, "Last chance freshman, walk away."

"I don't think so."

"Then I guess I don't have a choice, be here in one hour, we'll settle this in a duel. The winner will become Alexis' fiancé." Turning his back on the blonde pair, the Rosewood heir walked out of the gym amidst the shocked and appalled faces of the freshman.

Once Harrington had left, murmurs broke out amongst the crowd of duelist, only to be silenced when Naruto spoke up. "My apologies Miss Fontaine, I did not mean for things to get that out of hand and disrupt class."

The maroon haired nurse seemed slightly surprised by the sudden apology, but recovered quickly, "No, I should be the one apologizing Naruto. As a teacher I should've stepped in before things got as far as they did instead of succumbing to my emotions. For that I apologize," she finished with a short bow.

A soft smile came over Naruto's face, one that had almost every female swooning, "You had every right to feel the way you did Miss Fontaine. The things Harrington was saying were crass and sexist, any self-respecting woman would have been angered by such remarks. But perhaps we should dismiss for now, after all we have a duel to prepare for and a stuck up snobs ass to kick!" A resounding cheer swept through the gathered freshman in response to Naruto proclamation.

Alexis smiled at the support everyone was showing Naruto's actions in her defense. Almost subconsciously, the blonde Obelisk stepped up beside the former shinobi and slipped her left hand into his right one, interlacing their fingers together. Naruto smiled down at her as an even larger cheer erupted from their fellow freshman duelists.

"Are you sure you wish to go through with this duel Naruto?" asked Bastion as he Jasmine, Mindy and Syrus walked over to stand with the blonde duo. "While I agree Harrington needs to be taught a valuable lesson, it's rumored that he is as good a duelist as Zane."

"What?" said a shocked Syrus, "That guy's supposed to be as good as my brother?"

"It doesn't matter how good rumors say he is," said Naruto before anything else could be said, "He belittled Alexis and I'm going to make him pay for it. That is, if you don't mind Alexis," the wicked smirk he got from her was all the answer he needed. "Then it's settled, I'll duel Harrington and take him down," with one last cheer, the gathered freshman quickly dispersed, planning on spreading word of the duel to the rest of the student body.

_One Hour Later_

Excitement filled the air as students prepared for the duel that was about to begin. Word of the impending duel and the reason for it had spread like wildfire across the island, garnering the interest of nearly every soul on the island. Even the teachers and Chancellor Sheppard had shown up to watch, either to see how Naruto, Duel Academy's rising star, matched up against one of their top senior Obelisk's, or in Sheppard's case, to see just how much arrogance was present in his school and hopefully find a way to put an end to it all.

As when Naruto and Alexis had dueled against the Paradox Brothers, the division among the student body was apparent. Many of the students, most of them from either the Ra or Slifer dorms, stood along the side that Naruto was on, firmly showing their support of the blonde. On the other side were Harrington and a small selection of Obelisk's that stood with him. They were mostly students in their senior and junior years, all of them being from very well off families. Of course, there was a group of students who had decided to remain neutral in this matter and they were standing with the teachers. Those students were only interested in seeing how the duel itself played out. One senior Obelisk however, had made his allegiances known quite clearly.

Zane Truesdale stood next to Alexis and the rest of Naruto's friends, his arms crossed and his normally impassive features set in a dark scowl as he glared at Harrington. He had been one of the first informed of the duel, being closer to Naruto and his friends then most, and to say he was angered by the so called stakes his fellow senior had set was an understatement. When the cyber duelist had first arrived at the gymnasium, even the teachers had been at a loss of how to handle the situation; they may have been used to dealing with angered and hormonal teens, but they had no idea how to handle an angered Zane Truesdale.

Thankfully Naruto had intervened before Zane could unleash his anger. With a simple hand on the seniors shoulder, the blonde freshman had managed to quell Zane's rage and avert the brawl that likely would have ensued. As it was, a brawl still seemed eminent as the looks Harrington was sending his fellow senior all but screamed Zane would regret his decision.

Deciding to get the duel started before tensions boiled over and it came to blows, Chancellor Sheppard stepped forward to address the crowd. "Good afternoon students. I'm sure all of you are aware by now why we are here. Mr. Harrington Rosewood has challenged Mr. Naruto Namikaze to duel. Now if both contenders are ready, let the duel commence!" cheers and shouts of support rang throughout the gym as Naruto and Harrington deployed their respective duel disks and drew their first hands.

Naruto: 4000/Harrington: 4000

Acting before his opponent could, Naruto drew a sixth card from his deck, "I'll start Harrington, and I'll begin by playing one card face down. Next, I activate the spell card Defenders of the Hokage. You see what this handy spell does is allow me to summon an Anbu Token for every card that I have face down on the field; and since I have one card face down, I get one token." A monster clad in the traditional garb of Konoha Anbu and wearing a bird shaped mask appeared kneeling on Naruto's field, arms crossed over its chest.

'_**Defenders of the Hokage: Normal Spell- Activate this card only when you have no monsters face-up on the field. Summon one 'Anbu Token' (Atk 2000/Def 2000) for every facedown card on your side of the field.'**_

"You call that, an opening play? Please. Let me show you how to really serve a ball," said the sports enthusiast as he drew a card from his deck. Smiling at what he drew, Harrington placed the card in his spell and trap card zone, "I think I'll start off by volleying a spell at you, Service Ace. This is a card with some real bite to it; you see I select one card in my hand and you have to guess whether it's a monster, spell or trap card and if you're wrong you get aced with fifteen hundred points of damage. So choose wisely." The older teen's taunts didn't even faze Naruto; he still stood relaxed and composed on his side of the field.

'_**Service Ace: Normal Spell- Select 1 card in your hand. Your opponent must guess whether it is a Spell, Trap or Monster Card. Reveal it to your opponent. If they guessed wrong, inflict 1500 damage to your opponent. Removing from play the selected card when this card resolves.'**_

What no one else knew though, was that the blonde had positioned a handful of shadow clones behind Harrington to spy on him and his cards. So when Harrington activated his spell, one of the clones dispelled to let the original Naruto know exactly what the card was. Now Naruto may like to play fair and was not one to normally use his skills to cheat, but he was willing to make an exception this time and besides, he was a shinobi, he was taught to do whatever it took to win a fight and that's exactly what he was doing. "I choose monster," Harrington's scowl told everyone that Naruto had guessed correctly.

"Hmph, lucky guess, but your luck is about to run out. I place one card face down and end, balls in your court freshman."

"You know, your stupid sports cliché's are really starting to get on my nerves," said Naruto as he drew his next card with a flourish. Deciding to enact his plan when he realized what he had drawn, he looked over his shoulder and winked at Alexis. A smirk slowly crossed her lips, very reminiscent of his own foxy smirk, when she realized what was about to happen. Since they had begun her training, the two blondes had grown close and Naruto had revealed more about his previous life to Alexis, censoring less and less as time passed. He had also told her more about chakra and the things one could do once they had enough control. While word of the duel was being spread by their friends, Naruto had pulled Alexis aside and told her that he would be giving her a practical demonstration of his power, with Harrington being the unfortunate recipient.

A still calm fell over the duel and everything within the gym and surrounding area. Most wouldn't have noticed the shift in atmosphere or even paid it any heed, but a small handful of onlookers did and they understood what it meant. While Alexis may have been the only one aware of Naruto's plan, the more skilled and experienced amongst the crowd, Naruto's circle of friends in particular, easily put the pieces together.

It was the calm before the storm. Whatever Naruto had drawn was obviously powerful and they knew that that power was about to be unleashed.

Just as quickly as the calm had come, it was gone, replaced by chaos. The wind began whipping around, forcing people to brace against one another to prevent from being blown away by the wind. Thanks to the open skylight, everyone could see the sky darkening as ominous storm clouds formed, bathing the island in a shroud of darkness.

"What on earth is happening!?" Crowler's shrill voice carried even over the high whistling of the gale force winds that filled one of the few structures on the island.

"Look at Naruto!" screamed Syrus, pointing towards the blonde duelist. Everyone looked up as best they could against the wind and the sight that greeted them would forever be engraved into the minds.

Naruto stood in the eye of the storm, arms crossed, not showing any sign of being bothered by the chaos around him; but that wasn't what mesmerized the audience. No, it was the shroud of fiery blue chakra enveloping his being that shocked and awed the onlookers. With a burning determination shining in his eyes, Naruto grabbed another card in his hand and revealed it to a startled and scared Harrington Rosewood. "Congratulations Harrington, you will be the first to feel the true power of my deck, and with the spell card Retirement from the Anbu, I have everything I need to unleash it!"

'_**Retirement from the Anbu: Normal Spell- Activate only when you have no monsters on the field. By sending one Warrior-type monster from your hand to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 2 Level 5 or lower Warrior-type monsters from your hand or Deck.'**_

"Now by sending one of my warriors to the grave, I can summon two more from my deck; rise Chuunin- Kiba Inuzuka and Chuunin- Shino Aburame." Each wearing the same clothes they had worn into battle during the Fourth Shinobi World War, the two expert trackers appeared alongside the kneeling Anbu Token. "But neither of them will be staying, because I sacrifice them along with my token, to summon Kurama, The Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

No sooner had the card been placed on Naruto's duel disk, than did the chaos inside the gym flee and become a raging maelstrom outside. A single bolt of lightning struck the island, illuminating the darkness that surrounded the island. When the flash died down, everyone could see the dark silhouette of a massive creature outside through the open roof. Its only visible feature being the pair of shining blood red, slitted eyes that sent shivers down the spines of those who met the beasts gaze.

Harrington was the most shaken of all. He had begun the duel assured of his victory over this freshman, but now here he was, facing down a monster of enormous power, and if what he was feeling was real, it wasn't a hologram. "W-wait a second, I surrender! I surrender!" he pleaded, covering his deck with his hand, a sign of total surrender to any duelist. Unfortunately for Harrington, Naruto wasn't in a forgiving mode.

"You may have surrendered, but this duel will only end when you lose!" exclaimed Naruto, the chakra surrounding him increasing in intensity. "Now attack Kurama, finish him off!" the shadowed monster shifted slightly, before a beam of black and yellow energy consumed Harrington. The resulting explosion rocked the gymnasium to its foundations, bringing nearly everyone to their knees, Naruto, Alexis, Zane and Sheppard being the only ones to maintain their footing.

Naruto: 4000/Harrington: 0

Once the aftermath of Naruto's attack had subsided, numerous gasps filled the room.

On the ground was the battered and bruised body of Harrington Rosewood. His overly muscled physique and handsome face were now littered with countless injuries, ranging from bruises, to burns, to minor lacerations. Many of those wounds would likely leave disfiguring scars in their wake, forever marring Harrington's image. It was as the holograms faded away that realization struck home in the minds of the crowd, that in his current state, Harrington was in very real danger of not recovering. Miss Fontaine was the first to reach the boys side, already calling for assistance in moving the unresponsive Obelisk to the medical wing.

As this was happening, Naruto had moved over to his friends. Idly noting that all eyes were on him, the blonde decided to leave them with one final word of warning. "Let this serve as a warning to everyone. I do not take kindly to attacks against my friends, and that is exactly what Harrington's words and actions were. Should anyone else make such a foolish decision," he turned and pointed to were Harrington was being carted away, "That will be your fate." With that said, the blonde left with his friends, leaving the student body either in awe of his power, or terrified of his wrath.

While the students slowly got over the things they had witnessed during the duel, the teachers had convened for an impromptu meeting. "That boy is a menace!" screeched Crowler, "Not only does he disregard our schools traditions and regulations, now he's gone and injured one our most prominent students! He needs to be expelled immediately!"

"While I may not be as concerned about Mr. Namikaze's decision to remain dormless, his actions today cannot be ignored. Provoked or not, the very real injuries he inflicted on Mr. Rosewood are a serious matter." Professor Sartyr, the rarely spoken head of the Ra dorm said, "If something like this happens again, and word got out that we allowed him to remain at the Academy, fully aware of what he was capable of, then I fear it would ruin the school and our student's chances at promising careers. Like in dueling, sometimes we must sacrifice things to remain in the game. That is what we must do now; expulsion would be the best course of action."

Closing his eyes, Sheppard sighed before glancing at the last member of their circle, "Banner, what are your views on this matter?"

The head of the Slifer dorm looked as calm as ever with his cat Pharaoh in his arms. "The others bring up valid points, but perhaps they are being a bit to critical. After all, this not the first time a student has been injured in a duel, or have you already forgotten about the students from the Abandoned Dorm?" neither of his colleagues would meet his eye at that comment, "How can we justify expelling Naruto for using his powers to defend his friend, when we set students to duel each other with similar results in the Abandoned Dorm? I agree that punishment is necessary, but if we expel him, we would be little better than hypocrites."

"A fair point," said Sheppard with a small nod, "Very well, instead of expelling him, we shall forbid Naruto from dueling for a set period. If he chooses to ignore this and duels before the period is over, then we shall have no other choice but to expel him, agreed?" Banner and Sartyr nodded their ascent, while Crowler scowled but gave his consent as well, though grudgingly. "Then it's decided, I will inform Naruto of this decision this afternoon, until then, I suggest we get things back on track. I'm sure the students have better things to do than just remain here all day."

_With Naruto and Company_

The group of eight walked in relative silence as they traversed the perimeter of the island. The clouds conjured by the power Naruto had unleashed had all but dispersed, allowing the sun to once more shine through. A break in the silence finally came as the group arrived at the same clearing Bastion had dueled Wheeler. "Hey… Naruto," said Syrus, "What exactly happened back there? And what was with that weird glowing energy?"

Silence answered him as Naruto, standing on the trunk of the tree on the edge of the cliff, continued to stare out at the ocean. His sapphire eyes betrayed the inner conflict raging inside of him; should he tell them the truth? Was it finally time for the truth of his life to come out? Turning his head so he could look at his friends out of the corner of his eye, he decided that no, they weren't ready to know the truth. They were too young, too innocent, to understand the things he had done and experienced in his life. But even if they weren't ready for the whole truth, he could at least start preparing them for it, by revealing all he had to Alexis to the others as well.

Lowering his gaze, he found Alexis standing at the base of the tree, a smile on her face. It still surprised him somewhat that she was perfectly fine with what he had done to Harrington. But when he thought about it, with the things the rich snob had said, he wouldn't be surprised if what he had done wasn't enough in Alexis' mind. Returning the blonde beauties smile with a small one of his own, he turned back to their friends, "That energy Syrus, is known as chakra. It is a power that resides within all living things, from humans, to even the tiniest insects, chakra is everywhere around us."

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain the glowing. Was that 'chakra' as well?" asked Mindy, struggling slightly with the old Japanese term.

"Yes Mindy, that was chakra. Now, before you ask, allow me to explain a few things." Raising a hand to stall the forthcoming question, he continued, "You see, because chakra exists inside of us, and is a part of us, it is possible to gain control of it and harness it. That is what you saw during the duel; I called upon my chakra and used it to give my monsters true, corporeal form. Which is why Harrington is in the state he is now, my monsters were no mere hologram, they were real."

"What? You can make your monsters real? I thought only a shadow duelist or shadow game could create real monsters!" everyone shared Bastion's surprise; even Zane raised an eyebrow at the information. The only one who didn't seem surprised was Alexis, and that didn't go unnoticed.

"Lexi, you don't seem surprised by any of this," pointed out Jasmine, shifting attention from one blonde to the other. The sudden attention on her caused Alexis to sigh before holding up her right hand. A soft blue glow started radiating from her hand, though her face betrayed the concentration and effort the small display required. This time, not even Zane could contain his surprise as six sets of eyes widened. "You can control chakra too?"

Releasing the breath she had been holding, the glow faded away, leaving Alexis breathing a little heavy. "Yeah," she breathed out, "But I'm not very good at it. Naruto's been teaching me how to control it, but with classes we haven't had much time and I haven't gotten very far with it."

"Wait, you mean it's possible for others to learn this skill?" asked Zane, speaking for the first time.

The blonde shinobi nodded the affirmative, "Yes, and even though she thinks she hasn't gotten far, Alexis' control at this point is staggeringly better than mine was when I first began training. Now I know what you're going to ask next, and the answer is yes, I could train all of you to do the same; provided you possess the necessary chakra to do so."

Before anyone could ask him how to find out if they had enough chakra, Naruto closed his eyes and evened out his breathing. Alexis immediately recognize the signs of one beginning to meditate; having meditated herself multiple times since her training began. So with a silencing motion and small glare, she shut everyone up so Naruto could meditate easier. She still didn't quite understand it, but Naruto had told her that when he meditated, he could sense the presence of others and the strength of their chakra.

What she didn't know, was that to do so required him to partially enter Sage Mode. It didn't take him long to draw in the necessary natural energy and form it with his chakra into senjutsu chakra. Once he had all he needed, he extended his senses outward, feeling the world around him before honing in on the chakras of his friends. As he noticed before winter break, Bastion and Syrus' chakra levels had grown quite large since their arrival to the island, both now about at the same level an average chuunin would be expected to have. Jasmine and Mindy both had about the same amount a genin would, while Chumley sadly, only had as much as an Academy student; enough to train, but it wasn't likely he would ever make it past the basics. It was Zane who was the biggest surprise however, his chakra rivaling that of a jounin's in size. He could easily be trained to be a strong fighter, however he was also older and his reserves seemed to have stopped growing, so it was likely his chakra would not grow much more than what it was already.

"Well, well, this is a pleasant surprise," Naruto said, coming out of his meditation, "It seems all of you possess enough chakra to go through the training." Excitement filled the clearing as Jasmine and Mindy squealed with delight, while Bastion, Syrus and Chumley cheered. Zane merely smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "Don't get to excited," the sudden seriousness in the blonde's voice caught everyone by surprise, but they listened all the same, "Just because you have enough chakra does not mean you will automatically get through the training. We may be friends, but I will not be easy on any of you. If you want to complete the training, you will have to work hard for it, harder than you have ever worked before."

The tone in his voice unsettled most of them, but none showed any signs of backing down. Smirking at their determination, Naruto turned to Alexis, who was wearing a matching smirk, "Looks like they're not gonna back down Alexis."

"Looks like," there was an undertone in her voice, and it set their friends on edge even more.

"Then I guess there's nothing left to say except," his smirk widened as he turned back to his new trainees, "Let the fun begin."

**There you have it everyone, let me know what you thought. If you have questions, PM me.**

**See you later,**

**BSW**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the newest addition of Dueling Shinobi, hope everyone enjoys. I tried to make the duel in this one more even, let me know how I did.**

**Again, I own nothing.**

**Chapter 7- Legacy of the Copy Ninja**

"Come on, you all can do better than this," standing on the shore of the creek that ran through the clearing his home was built in, arms crossed and expression hard, Naruto looked every bit the unforgiving slave driver his friends now thought him as. Speaking of his friends, all of them were sprawled out on the ground in front of his home, panting heavily and showing all the signs of exhaustion and fatigue. Only Alexis and Zane had managed not to completely collapse from the intense workout they had just been put through; Alexis because she had been training longer and her stamina was improving and Zane because he refused to give in to his bodies limits.

It had been two weeks since Naruto's duel with Harrington, and in that time, he had been pushing his friends to the limit in their training. The fact that he was suspended from dueling for a month freed him up to focus solely on his and his friends training. And a simple shadow clone took care of his classes and any work he had. This left him free to do whatever he wanted, and when he wasn't running his friends into the ground with physical training to increase their Yang chakra, he was in the clearing where he and his mother had fought against Jinzo, doing his own training to keep his skills sharp.

With pained grunts and groans, the seven trainees forced themselves back on their feet. Despite how hard he was being with them, Naruto had to give his friends credit; most genin would have collapsed a long time ago with the kind of workout he was making them do, but they were proving none of them were the type to give up, despite their pain.

"Alright then, since you all have been at this for a while now and your progress has been coming along nicely, I think it's time to begin your chakra control training." That brightened everybody's spirits; finally they would truly begin training to control their powers, or in Alexis' case, get back to it. "Now the first step in learning chakra control is the leaf exercise," picking up one of the fallen leaves near his feet, Naruto placed it to his forehead and removed his finger. He smirked at the surprised expressions on his friends faces, with the exception of Alexis, as the leaf stayed firmly in place, even when he bent over and shook his head, the leaf didn't budge. "You must focus your chakra to a point behind your forehead and use it to hold the leaf in place. If you don't use enough, the leaf won't stick, too much, you'll blow it away. Since this will be your first attempt at actively moving your chakra, I suggest you use the meditative state I've had you work on this last week. It will help tremendously while you get used to the feeling of your chakra."

"Pardon me, Naruto, I know none of us are anywhere near the point yet, but I was wondering if you could give us a demonstration of what one can do with proper control over their chakra?" Everyone nodded in agreement with Bastion's idea, all of them wanting to see what they might one day be capable of. Flashing the Ra genius a smirk, Naruto was all too happy to oblige.

"Very well, watch closely," crouching down, the blonde shinobi focused a small, intense burst of chakra to his legs and rocketed toward the sky. Once he reached the apex of his flight, he used wind manipulation to hover in the air momentarily, taking in the astounded faces of his audience. Twisting himself around he began his descent back to earth, head first. Three female shrieks reached his ears, accompanied by the shouts of alarm from the males present. Their worry was for naught however, as just before he reached the ground, Naruto flipped himself upright and landed in a crouch, a small crater forming due to the force of the impact. Straightening himself up, smirk still firmly in place, he addressed his now gaping friends. "That is one way chakra can be applied; to enhance a person's physical abilities. Another, more common use, is using chakra to walk on surfaces that are normally impossible to walk on, such as water." To emphasize his point, he took a few steps backwards, and instead of falling into the water, he stood firmly and steadily of its surface as if it was solid ground. "Walking on water is an exercise you'll be learning once you master the leaf exercise and the one that follows it. So you better hurry and get started, the sooner you finish, the sooner you get to the good stuff."

That was all the incentive they needed to begin the exercise in earnest, each of them sitting down to meditate while trying to stick a leaf to their forehead. Since she had been training with Naruto longer than the others, Alexis was a little farther along and was trying to stick multiple leaves to different points on her body. She also didn't require the meditative state to help move her chakra since she had been moving it on her own for a few months now.

With his friends all focused on the exercise, Naruto sat down to do some meditating of his own. Assuming the pose Fukasaku had taught him, it wasn't long before he found himself once again inside of the sewer that was his mind. Before he had been brought to this time, he had managed to alter his mindscape from the sewer that he now stood in, but it seemed that as he was brought forward in time his mindscape had reverted to its original form. Sighing softly, Naruto set to work on altering his mindscape yet again.

Unfortunately altering one's mind wasn't as easy as picturing what you wanted and snapping your fingers to change it. It required a slow, methodical approach to change, else wise you ran the risk of causing irreversible damage to your psyche, or worse shutting your entire mind down, killing yourself in the process. So as the sewer walls slowly faded into oblivion, Naruto watched as the memories of his life played out before his eyes. His successes, his failures, the faces of his friends and loved ones in their final moments all passed through his mind's eye, causing a single tear to slide down his face.

'_Everyone… please forgive me, I wasn't strong enough to protect you,' _he thought as the memories finally ended. Looking around him, he found that his mindscape had been completed. Instead of the dark, foreboding sewer that he arrived in, the blonde found himself standing in a lush green forest, but it wasn't just any forest, it was the forest of Konoha. Off in the distance, the once proud Hokage Monument could be seen, the faces of the five Hokage ever vigilant over their domain. A small, sad smile formed on Naruto's face as he gazed at the mountain, his conscience fading from the forest.

Opening his eyes, the blonde found himself back in the real world, looking into the face a concerned Alexis. He raised an eyebrow at his fellow blonde, silently asking what was wrong. As she reached towards his face, only then did he notice the dampness on his cheek. Wiping away the offending tear before Alexis could, Naruto offered her his best disarming smile.

It didn't seem to work as Alexis' face remained set as one of concern, "Why were you crying Naruto-kun?" She may have only used the suffix originally to tease him, but over the last two weeks, she had stuck to using it regularly. It was their personal way of referring to each other, though Mindy and Jasmine constantly insisted they were their pet names for each other.

"It's nothing Asuka-chan," he said, using his own nickname for her, "Just some old memories agitating an old wound." Frowning at the cryptic answer, Alexis held her gaze for another few moments, hoping Naruto would crack and tell her the truth. All she got for her efforts was another disarming smile, causing her to sigh before relenting and giving the male blonde a smile of her own. It may have irked her that she couldn't get any answers out of him, but she knew when to stop pushing the subject. Naruto had told her many times that he would tell her everything; he just wasn't ready to relive whatever pain those memories would bring yet.

"Hey Naruto," called Syrus, who was currently hunched over breathing heavily. It was only then that Naruto noticed that everyone seemed to be in a similar state, likely from all the effort of moving their chakra for the first time.

"Yes Syrus?" said the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you think we could take a break?" there were a few murmurs of agreement from the others as well. Naruto chuckled slightly, but nodded all the same as he stood up.

"Sure, you guys have put in a good days work, so we'll stop here for now. Tomorrow we'll pick up with the leaf exercise and then begin some scrimmage duels, so make sure you're decks are ready."

"But Naruto, the Chancellor banned you from dueling for the month! If they find out you defied them, you'll be expelled!" said Mindy. Her concern was reflected by many of the others, bringing a small smile to Naruto's face.

"Don't worry guys, I won't duel, I'll just act as the judge and give you all tips and advice, alright?" with that, Naruto began walking towards his house, motioning everyone to follow, "Now enough of that, let's head inside and relax, you all have earned it." Everyone nodded in agreement and followed the blonde into his abode and settled down in the living room while Naruto went to prepare some snacks for everyone.

Time passed quickly for the group of friends as they relaxed together, watching some TV and making small talk. It was times like this they appreciated most; just relaxing and acting like regular teens, no worries from classes or the pressures that come with being a duelist. Even Zane, the most serious person on the island, let go of some of that seriousness during these times and opened up a bit more to the others. He had even revealed to Syrus that the only reason he was so harsh and critical of the Slifer's dueling skills was because he knew that Syrus had the potential to become one of the best duelists out there. Needless to say, Syrus had reacted in his typical emotional way, giving Zane a big hug and promising he wouldn't let him down. That had really helped mend the fractured bond between the brothers, and allowed them to start rebuilding the closeness they had lost. It had also greatly helped boost Syrus' confidence, and that confidence was reflected in his skills and demeanor.

Speaking of the youngest Truesdale brother, he said something that caught everyone's interest. "Oh man, I can't believe that Yugi's deck is going on tour, and the first stop is here at Duel Academy!"

"I must agree Syrus, having the chance to see the most powerful deck in the world is quite the opportunity." Bastion said as he turned his attention to the bespectacled duelist, "Not to mention this will provide great insight into the inner workings and relationships of the King of Games deck and how they function together."

"Sorry Bastion, but that's probably not going to happen," cut in Naruto, a knowing smirk plastered on his features.

"Why's that Naruto?" asked Alexis, voicing the question everyone wanted an answer too.

Naruto's smirk never wavered as he took a sip of his water, prolonging the silence before he answered, "Yugi's deck is going on tour, but they won't be displaying each of the cards in the deck individually, only a select few will be set up for display while the rest remain stacked in the deck." This caused a few groans among the circle of friends; it seemed they were all hoping to see what made the King of Games deck so invincible. Not that Naruto could blame them. "Though my sources tell me that for the first stop here at Duel Academy, they'll be setting up Yugi's five best cards for viewing, not counting the Egyptian Gods of course."

"Really? Yugi's five best cards?!" Chumley exclaimed, causing Naruto to chuckle slightly. Next to Syrus, Chumley was the most excitable one of their little group, especially when it came to duel monsters cards.

"Yep, and I'm not telling you which ones they are, so don't bother asking," both Syrus's and Chumley's faces fell at being denied prior knowledge about which of Yugi's cards were gonna be on display, but they quickly got over it as they began speculating which ones they might be.

All conversation stopped though as everyone's PDA's went off simultaneously. Naruto was the first one to get his out and quickly skimmed over the message before everyone else. That was the only reason he managed to grab onto Alexis and Zane and escape from the room before five voices shook his home to its foundations, "THE TICKETS ARE GOING ON SALE NOW?!"

What came next could only be described as chaos. The five friends charged out of the house, crazed gleams in their eyes, as they raced to the card shop to purchase their tickets. On the roof, Naruto, Alexis and Zane could only watch as the five person stampede sped away from them. "That was…"

"Too close," the two Obelisks' finished at the same time. After sharing a quick laugh, the three climbed down and started following their friends, though at a much more sedate pace.

_Card Shop- Ten Minutes Later_

When the three finally arrived at the campus card shop, it was to find a crowd of students huddled together and watching what could only be a duel inside the shop. Having a feeling that it was one of their friends dueling, the three walked forward to investigate with the crowd parting like the Red Sea around them. They were right in their assumption cause as soon as they reached the front of the crowd; they found Syrus dueling against a member of the Ra dorm.

"Why exactly is Syrus dueling?" asked Naruto, noticing Bastion and the others nearby.

"By the time we got here, there were only a handful of tickets remaining. Syrus and Dimitri are dueling to determine who will get the last remaining ticket." Said Bastion as Dimitri activated Heavy Strom, destroying his two facedown cards. Just like in Naruto's duel with Crowler, two golden, serpentine creatures rose from the destroyed cards.

"Isn't that the same strategy Dr. Crowler used against you Naruto?" pointed out Alexis.

Naruto nodded with his arms crossed, "It is. In fact, the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if…" before the blonde shinobi could finish, Dimitri's two tokens disappeared in a flash of light. Out of that light came a very familiar, lumbering monster, the Ancient Gear Golem. "So he is using Crowler's deck, talk about being a copycat."

"You don't know the half of it," began Bastion, "Dimitri is a Copycat Duelist; he copies the decks, strategies, even the personalities and speech patterns of great duelists. It seems he has chosen Crowler as his newest templet."

An explosion interrupted their conversation. Looking back towards the duel, they discovered Syrus holding the last ticket and Dimitri on his knees, obviously having lost. With the spectacle over, the gathered crowd began to disperse, but not without a few jeers being shot at the defeated duelist.

"Man, talk about pathetic. How did Dimitri get into Ra Yellow if he can't even beat a Slifer Slacker like Truesdale?" a second year Obelisk said, only to pale when he caught sight of Zane. Many other students, who looked ready to say something, quickly vacated the area as well, for fear of incurring the wrath of the elder Truesdale brother. One comment however, drifted over the noise of the retreating students.

"I guess copying a great duelist isn't the same as being a great duelist. Just goes to show how useless a copycat is."

Unnoticed by all, Naruto's entire body had stiffened for a brief moment before he forced himself to relax. That single comment had sparked a vengeful fire in the normally calm blonde. It didn't matter who the snide remark had been directed at, that statement had stomped on the memory and legacy of his sensei. Making a mental note to prank the one who had said it, Naruto focused back on reality and saw Syrus being congratulated by their friends. Off to the side, Bastion was attempting to talk to Dimitri, but the defeated duelist wasn't willing to listen and ran out of the card shop.

As he ran past, Naruto locked eyes with the Ra duelist and saw something that caught him off guard. Underneath all the resentment and pain, Dimitri possessed a burning desire to prove himself, to show everyone who mocked him that he could be a great duelist. It was a look Naruto was very familiar with; after all, he had possessed a similar desire during the Academy and his days as a genin.

"OH NO!" Syrus' shout drew everyone's attention.

"What is it Sy?" asked Alexis.

"Well, you see I just won the last ticket, and Bastion, Chumley and the girls got theirs already. But that means there aren't any tickets left for you three!"

"He's right," said Bastion dejectedly, "Maybe if we had gotten here a few minutes sooner, but unfortunately it doesn't appear that you three will be able to go."

"Don't sweat it Bastion," said Naruto as the five who had gotten their tickets started to look guilty, "The three of us will be fine. There are other ways to get tickets, you know," he finished with a smirk. Everyone gave him puzzled looks, or raised an eyebrow in Zane's case, wondering what the blonde meant by that.

_That Night- Ra Yellow Dorm_

"I don't get it!" Dimitri raged, knocking a stack of papers off his desk with a swipe of his arm. "I watch and I study, but still I lose!" Slamming his fists onto the polished dark wood surface, the lone Copycat Duelist of the island continued to scream his frustrations. "If copying great duelists doesn't work, than what will?! Crowler's deck, Zane's and Kaiba's, all of them were useless!"

With another frustrated cry, he lashed out again, knocking even more papers off his desk. A soft glint of light caught his attention though, stopping him before he could continue to vent his anger. Taking a closer look at the objet revealed it to be a laminated flyer, promoting the tour of Yugi Moto's deck and its initial stop at Duel Academy. Eyes lighting up in realizations as the answer to all his problems presented itself, Dimitri smirked as plans began to form in his mind. "Of course, it's so simple. If copying the greatest duelists doesn't work, then I'll just become the greatest duelist!"

Mind set on going through with his, in most people's opinions, stupid and insane plan, Dimitri swiftly escaped from the Ra dorm building and began heading towards the main academy building. Soon, the greatest deck in the world would be his, and he would finally become the greatest duelist in existence.

Arriving at the main building shortly after, it wasn't hard to locate the room that had been chosen to house Yugi's deck, what with all the posters lining the walls. Despite housing the Kind of Games deck, security for the room was extremely lax. No camera's, no standing guards, hell the room itself wasn't even locked. In fact, the only form of protection the deck had was the glass case it was being displayed in. _'This will be easier than I thought.'_

Double checking to make sure no one was around, Dimitri moved towards the display, and with a deep breath, broke the glass with his elbow. After rubbing his now sore appendage to help soothe the ache, Dimitri reached in and retrieved his new deck. As he examined the cards, a surge of energy pulsed from the very deck he now held. Gasping as the power he felt wash over him and with his eyes alight with excitement and awe, the Ra duelist began chuckling, a sound that got progressively deeper until it couldn't be recognized as his own. "Finally, we are reunited my friends," Dimitri said, fondly observing the deck he held, "And now, I shall reclaim my title as the King of Games!"

_Same Time_

Across the island, at the northern most ridge, stood Naruto with his eyes closed in concentration. Slowly, a ring of chakra began to form around the blondes feet, steadily increasing in density. Eyes snapping open, he clapped his hands together before crouching down and slamming them on the ground. A sealing matrix spread out from his palms, easily five feet in diameter. At the heart of the matrix was the kanji for 'Barrier,' with eight branches of symbols extending from the circle that housed the kanji. The newly formed seal glowed a soft blue for a few more moments, before dying down, revealing that the seal had been burned and etched into the ground.

"Alright, now to make sure the sensing barrier works," muttered the blonde, before closing his eyes and clapping his hands together once again. The newly created seal flashed once before returning to normal, and though it wasn't seen, Naruto knew that the three other seals he had placed around the island had done the same. In his minds eyes, a blacked out version of the island began to form, and slowly a large spherical barrier formed around it, surrounding the island on all sides and even from below. "Good, everything is working correctly and the barrier is holding strong. With this in place, no one will be able to come and go from the island without me knowing." Taking out his PDA and pressing a few buttons, the serious face of Chancellor Sheppard appeared on the small screen. "The barrier is set up. I can sense everything that enters and leaves it. No one will be able to get on the island without our knowledge now."

"Excellent, and Naruto, thank you once again for agreeing to this. Titan's appearance on the island showed just how lax our security has become."

"It's not a problem Chancellor; I would have taken steps to better protect the island with or without your permission. This way, it just makes things less complicated in the long run," replied the blonde with a shrug of his shoulders. After the incident with Harrington, when Sheppard had approached Naruto to inform him of his punishment, he had also taken the chance to ask Naruto if he knew of anything that could help protect the academy. Naturally the blonde knew more than a few things that could do the trick, but had immediately pointed out that many of those defenses had a nasty draw back for any trying to pass through them. Not exactly the best choice for an island based school that relied on sea and air imports to provide supplies.

However, those kinds of defenses were more acquitted to a harsher and hostile environment, but there were still other options that were less…extreme. Such as the barrier Naruto had just finished creating. It was a modified version of the Sensing System Jutsu that had been erected and maintained by Konoha's Barrier Team. The key difference between the original barrier and Naruto's version was that his did not require someone to constantly maintain and monitor it. Instead, it had been modified to work in a way similar to the Barrier: Canopy Method Formation once wielded by Jiraiya. The four seals Naruto had applied at the cardinal points along the island perimeter anchored the barrier, instead of Naruto himself being used as the anchor. Also, since it was connected to his chakra, he could feel everything that passed through the barrier in the back of his mind, therefore not interfering with his day to day life.

Sheppard smiled at his favorite student's choice of words, but couldn't help but agree. "Still, you have my gratitude Naruto. Now, I believe you've done enough for now, go get some rest, you've earned it." With one last smile and a polite nod, the Chancellor ended the video call, leaving Naruto to his own devices. Replacing his PDA in his pocket, the blond duelist turned to begin the trek back to his accommodation, when a pulse of relatively strong chakra reached his senses.

Sighing to himself, he changed directions and began making his way towards the source of the chakra. "Well, so much for getting some rest," he mumbled as he leisurely made his way across the island. He could tell that the source of the chakra wasn't innately powerful, and lacked any true human emotion that normally accompanied pulses of chakra. That left a few possibilities as to the source of the chakra, but none of them were worrying enough to pose any kind of immediate threat. Besides, he had spent a good portion of the night so far setting up the barrier, he deserved a few moments of peace, damn it!

Following the chakra source eventually led Naruto to an outcropping of rocks sticking out of the ocean. Standing atop one of the rocks farthest from the islands edge, much to Naruto's surprise, was the familiar form of Dimitri. _'What's he up to?' _at second glance, he noticed a few differences about Dimitri, namely the blue scarf that was wrapped around his neck, and the small flaring of his Ra blazer. He also seemed to be looking through a deck of duel monsters cards, which Naruto noted was also the source of the chakra he had felt earlier. Silently unsealing his duel disk, having a strange feeling that he would need it soon, the blonde jumped off the cliff he was standing on and landed on one of the rocks across from Dimitri, purposefully making noise to alert his fellow duelist to his presence.

Dimitri glanced over his shoulder, before turning around fully upon realizing who had found him. This was his chance! If he could defeat Naruto, the top duelist in the freshman class, then it would prove to everyone just how great a duelist he really was. Eager to do just that, the Copycat Duelist greeted his soon to be opponent. "Naruto, what a pleasant surprise; I must say, your timing couldn't have been more perfect. I was just about to go and find someone to test my deck out against."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the change in Dimitri's voice. It was deeper, and held an undertone of power in it, though thanks to his years as a shinobi, he could easily detect the effort Dimitri had to put into keeping his voice that way. "What new deck would that be Dimitri?" he asked, crossing his arms to disguise pressing a secret switch on his duel disk. It was a hidden function he had requested be built into the disk, it allowed him to disguise his duel disks signal from all monitoring equipment, including the academy's system.

"This one!" said the Ra duelist, holding up the cards he had been looking through previously. Slotting them into his duel disk with an unnecessary flourish, Dimitri deployed his disk, ready to begin the duel. "With this deck, I am invincible! No one, not even you has a chance of defeating me!"

Naruto: 4000/Dimitri: 4000

Sighing at the boisterous claim that he had heard far too many times to count, Naruto slotted his own deck and deployed his disk. Drawing their first hands, the two duelists shared a silent agreement as Naruto drew a sixth card and added it to his hand. "Since you're so certain of this new decks strength, I'll allow you to show me. I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

Chuckling slightly, Dimitri drew his own card, "Is that all you can muster in the face of uncertainty? How unfortunate." Selecting three cards, he held them out for Naruto to see, "I, on the other hand, am not hampered by such things! With the magic of Polymerization, I fuse Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet to form, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!" A swirling black portal opened above Dimitri's side of the field, and from it, descended a two headed beast. The beast possessed a lion's body, two silver wings on its back and tail tipped with a vipers head.

'_**Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast: Atk 2100/Def 1800, Six Stars, Wind Attribute, Beast/Fusion/Effect- "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" + "Berfomet." (This monster is always treated as a "Phantom Beast" monster.) When this card is destroyed; you can target 1 "Berfomet" or "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" in your Graveyard; Speacial Summon that target.'**_

"Now Chimera, show him your strength! Pulverizing Pounce!" with a roar, Chimera leapt towards the defenseless blonde, claws poised to rip his life points apart. Said blonde didn't even flinch at the incoming attack, remaining calm as one of his face down cards flipped up. A cloud of smoke covered Naruto's side of the field, preventing Dimitri from seeing the results of his attack. The only indication he had was the telltale sound of a monster being destroyed. Though to his surprise, Chimera did not return to his side of the field, instead Berfomet appeared face-up in defense mode. "What? What happened?"

"My Hokage's Vigil trap happened," Naruto's voice sounded as the smoke cloud slowly began to dissipate. Once the last of the smoke had cleared, Dimitri was treated to the sight of a battle ready Hiruzen Sarutobi hovering on his opponents field. "It may have taken away five hundred of his attack points, but it was still enough to deal with your Chimera."

'_**The Hokage's Vigil: Counter Trap- Activate only when your opponent declares an attack. You may Special Summon one monster that has "Hokage" in its name from your hand and make that monster the new attack target. The summoned monster losses 500 attack points.'**_

Hiruzen Sarutobi- 2700- 2200

Naruto: 4000/Dimitri: 3900

Shaking himself to help rid his lingering shock, Dimitri scowled at the blonde before slotting two of his three remaining cards into his disk. "An impressive trap, but it is of little consequence. I place one card face down and activate Swords of Revealing Light. Now all monsters on your field are frozen for three turns."

'_**Swords of Revealing Light: Normal Spell- Flip all monsters your opponent controls face-up. This card remains on the field for 3 of your opponent's turns. While this card is face-up on the field, monsters your opponent controls cannot declare an attack.'**_

"Don't be so sure Dimitri. Things of little consequence, have the largest impacts." Drawing his card, Naruto glanced at it before placing it in his center monster zone. "I summon Chuunin- Shikamaru Nara in attack mode." In his typical swirl of shadows, the Nara heir appeared on the field with his hands in his pockets in a typical laid back style.

Scoffing at the seemingly pathetic move, the Copycat Duelist drew his next card, "I must admit myself disappointed Naruto. I had expected more of a challenge from someone of your caliber, but I guess in the face of real power, even the mightiest fall. Now I shall show you that power! Reveal face down card, Brain Control!"

'_**Brain Control: Normal Spell- Pay 800 Life Points, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent contros; take control of that target until the End Phase.'**_

Naruto: 4000/Dimitri: 3100

"With this, I take control of your Hokage. But do not worry valiant warrior, you shall not have to do to battle with your former master. For I sacrifice you along with Berfomet, to summon the Dark Magician! Arise my old friend!" The revered duel monster descended onto the field, arms crossed and fabled scepter in his grasp. Dimitri then placed his final card into his spell and trap card zone, "Now to deal with your monster! I remember his ability to prevent an attack, but he cannot prevent this! Go, Thousand Knives!"

'_**Dark Magician: Atk 2500/Def 2100, Seven Stars, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster- The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense.'**_

'_**Thousand Knives: Normal Spell- If you control a "Dark Magician": Target 1 monster your opponent controls; destroy that target.'**_

Countless glowing knives appeared around the Dark Magician, and with a wave of his hand, they descended on Shikamaru, destroying him in a shower of particles. "Now my Magician, attack him directly! Dark Magic Attack!" brandishing his scepter, the purple clad spell-caster unleashed a powerful wave of energy at the defenseless blonde.

Naruto: 1500/Dimitri: 3100

"Now do you understand Naruto? Even you, one of the most powerful duelist on the island, cannot stand up to me and this deck! So long as I have these cards, no one will mock my skill ever again!"

'_It seems like he's finally fallen prey to the power he took for himself. I guess it's time to make him see the truth.' _"I will admit that the prowess you've shown so far is indeed impressive, especially with a deck that is not your own. But in your haste to demonstrate that prowess, you made a critical mistake. You no longer have any cards in your hand, and no face downs to counter with. Your swords may prevent any of my monsters from attacking, but that is not the only way to win a duel." Glancing at the card he drew, Naruto nodded to himself, _'Perfect. Hopefully this will be enough to get through to Dimitri and show him the error of his ways.'_

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn. Consider your next move carefully Dimitri, because one way or another, this duel ends this round."

Frowning as he drew his card, Dimitri spared a glance at it before refocusing on his opponent. The matter of fact way Naruto said that one of them would lose this round was unsettling to say the least. He may have the most powerful monster on the field, but Naruto's face downs were something to be weary of. It didn't help that the card he just drew wouldn't be of any help in dealing with them. _'No,' _he thought forcefully, _'Don't doubt in the power of your deck. If you do, you'll just end up losing again! There are no cards that are powerful enough to turn this duel around! He's just bluffing!'_

"I admire that you are willing to admit when a duel is lost, but bluffing is futile! I have watched all of your duels, and there are no cards in your deck that can help you! Now my magician, finish him off with Dark Magic Attack!"

"Underestimating your opponent is a critical mistake, one that will cost you dearly! I activate my two face downs, Cunning of the Shinobi and Cursed Chakra Transfer Technique."

'_**Cunning of the Shinobi: Counter Trap-Activate when your opponent declares an attack. Discard 1 card from your hand to negate the attack and inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponents Life Points.'**_

'_**Cursed Chakra Transfer Technique: Counter Trap- This card can only be activate when you are about to take more than 2000 points of damage to your Life Points as a result of battle. All damage that you would have received is negated and instead transferred to your opponent.'**_

"Now by discarding one card from my hand, my two traps can end this duel." The beam of energy stopped just short of striking the blonde, only to be redirected back at Dimitri.

Naruto: 1500/Dimitri: 600

"And now my second trap takes effect, dealing another thousand points of direct damage to you."

"What!?" Dimitri exclaimed, his voice returning to his natural one.

Naruto: 1500/Dimitri: 0

"That's… that's impossible! Why," he cried as he fell to his knees, "Even with the greatest deck, I still lost. Why?!"

"Because all you do is copy people Dimitri," came the surprisingly close voice of Naruto. Raising his head, the Copycat Duelist was met with the stern gaze of his fellow freshman. Before the Ra could say anything, Naruto continued, "You can only get so far as a duelist if all you do is copy the decks and strategies of others. If you truly wish to become great Dimitri, you must play to your own strengths, not the strengths of others."

"But… but copying is all I know how to do…"

"And that in itself is your greatest strength Dimitri. You have a skill that most duelists couldn't even hope to have; you are incredibly adaptable. Look at your past Dimitri; do you really think just anyone could pick up a deck they have never used before and use it with half the proficiency that you have? No, they couldn't. They would have lost before the first hand was even drawn." Seeing the Copycat about to say something, Naruto held up a hand to stop him, "I know what you are going to say Dimitri, and all I have to say is this; so what? Yes, you lost, but was it really such a bad thing to lose? One learns more in defeat, then they do in victory, but it is only the strong that use what they have learned and turn that defeat into future victories. So I ask you Dimitri; are you strong?"

Dimitri could only stare at the blonde, awed by the small speech. No one had ever said that to him, they only mocked him, ridiculing him for his inability to create a deck of his own. It had gotten to the point that he had started to believe it himself, that he really wasn't cut out to be a duelist. But with a few words, Naruto had crushed any doubt he had in his ability, and ignited a fire within the Ra duelist. Eyes hardening in determination, Dimitri got to his feet and met Naruto's sapphire gaze, "I'm strong."

Naruto smirked, clapping the teen on the shoulder, "Good, use what you have learned Dimitri and become a duelist to be respected. But first, how about you return Yugi's deck before anybody notices its missing?"

"I guess you're right," the Ra duelist said as he glanced at the deck in his duel disk, "And Naruto, thank you."

Shrugging, the blonde turned and began jumping back to shore, "Don't mention it. Besides," looking back over his shoulder, Naruto offered one last smirk before continuing on towards his home, "You are carrying on the legacy of my sensei, it's only fitting that I pass on the teachings of the first Copycat, to the newest Copycat."

* * *

Much to Naruto's joy, the walk back to his home was a peaceful one. It gave him the opportunity to do something he rarely had the chance to do since arriving in this new time; bask in the beauty and tranquility of nature. As a sage, he knew what it meant to become one with nature, to accept it for how it was and live in harmony with it. That is what saddened him most about this time; the people had forgone living in harmony with nature, instead choosing to try and control it by building extravagant and overly large cities. Shaking his head to rid himself of those melancholy thoughts, Naruto continued on his way, once more allowing the rhythmic sounds of nature to wash over him, soothing his tired mind.

He had just made it to the clearing where his home stood when he felt a familiar presence appear beside him. "You were gone longer than I expected you to be. Something happen?"

"I ran into a few other spirits who serve the same master as Jinzo, but none of them were near as powerful as he was. If Jinzo was a mere scout, then these guys were cannon fodder."

"That may be, but it also means that our enemy has a large enough force that they can freely send out multiple troops without fear of it affecting their overall military strength." Massaging his temple, Naruto continued on into his home with his mother's spirit following after him. "Things aren't looking to well for us at the moment. Our enemy has already amassed his forces and is on the move while we have almost no way of counteracting them and next to no idea what they're planning. We're pretty much defenseless and flying blind."

"Things may seem bleak Naruto-kun, but we're not totally defenseless." Seeing her sons questioning look, Kushina explained, "While I was searching for the doorways, I learned that they are held open by chakra. I also discovered that they can only contain a certain amount of chakra before they become destabilized and collapse in on themselves."

"So you mean that with a powerful enough chakra source, we can forcibly close the doorways?"

"Exactly," she said with a smirk, "And that was the main reason I was gone so long. I was using my power to collapse as many gate's as possible. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough power to destroy all of them, but one of your shadow clones should be enough to take care of the ones I couldn't. However, there are a few that even you won't be able to destabilize."

The blonde's eyes widened at that piece of information. He was widely recognized by many as one of the most powerful shinobi of the day in terms of sheer chakra alone. That his mother, another recognized chakra powerhouse, claimed that even he wouldn't be able to force some of the doorways closed was a chilling thought. "It's not that you don't have the chakra necessary Naruto-kun, it's the structure of the doorways themselves that would prevent you from closing them. Unlike all the others that I found, which are merely held open by ambient chakra, these are self-sustaining. They absorb the ambient chakra around them and actually become more stable in proportion to the amount they take in."

"So in other words, we need to drain or remove entirely the chakra inside them to close them," said Naruto, placing a scroll on his living room table and unravelling it to reveal a map of the globe. "Exactly how many are there and where are they located?"

"There are three in total, one at the Duelist Kingdom, another is above Domino City and the third is here at Duel Academy." Kushina listed off as Naruto marked the appropriate locations on the map.

"All at sights where large amounts of chakra have been exuded in duels. Knowing that, we should be able to accurately predict where any future doors may open, and with any luck seal them before they can be used. Did you tell Pegasus about the one at Duelist Kingdom?"

Kushina nodded, "I told him. He agreed to stay in his penthouse at Industrial Illusions HQ until we've found a way to seal the door. All that's left is coming up with a way to go about it."

"Yeah," mumbled the blonde, "And therein lies the problem. There are not many things that are capable of extracting such large amounts of chakra. Any ideas?"

"Maybe, but nothing for certain."

"Alright," Naruto said as he rolled up the map, "I guess all we can do now is work on a way to close those doors. Are they stable enough for anything to pass through at this point?"

"No, I tried to enter them and they didn't seem capable of allowing safe passage yet. If I had to wager a guess, it would take about another year before they would be safe enough to pass through."

Nodding, Naruto got up and started heading towards his room, "Good, then we have some time to prepare ourselves. For now though, I need to rest. Tonight has been a long and tiring one. Goodnight kaa-chan, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Naruto-kun, sweet dreams." Once she was certain he was out of sight and safely in bed, Kushina floated outside and double checked her surroundings to make sure no one who could see her was around. _'Things are getting serious, and Naruto is not the type to just sit back and not do anything. He may be powerful, and his friends may be advancing in their training, but we can't face the coming storm with a handful people. We need an army on our side. I think it's time I spoke with the others, the time for hiding is almost over.'_

**There you have it everyone, tell me what you think and keep submitting your ideas for potential cards and decks.  
**

**Till next time,**

**BSW**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back everybody! Sorry about the prolonged and unexpected leave of absence, but college is being kicked into overdrive and my chances to write are slim to none. I just want everyone to know that I have not abandoned my stories. Now, I hope you all enjoy!**

**As always, I own nothing**

**Chapter 8- Spirits Awaken! A Maiden in Love?**

The sounds of flesh smacking against flesh filled the air around Naruto's home. Said blonde stood atop the creek's surface, supervising his friends as they continued their training. Zane, Bastion, and Syrus were locked in a three way spar, each using the martial arts, or taijutsu as Naruto called it, he had taught them over the past couple of weeks. Despite his smaller stature, Syrus was easily matching his brother and Bastion blow for blow, using his speed to his advantage. Chumley had declined learning any of the taijutsu, knowing that his strengths did not lie on the battlefield. Naruto had understood and had set the koala duelist on a different kind of training. He was at the creeks edge, meditating and trying to transfer his chakra into his deck. Even with his smaller reserves of chakra, he still possessed enough to give the spirits of his cards physical form, if only for a short time. That was why he was pumping chakra into his deck, to strengthen them and make it easier to summon them in physical form.

Across the water's surface, Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine were going through some physical exercises while preventing themselves from sinking into the water. The three of them may have been in great shape, but they lacked the physical strength and stamina of a kunoichi to complete the next step of their training. Also, by having them do the exercises on the water, it helped to temper and strengthen their chakra and their control over it. That extra control and power would go a long way with the style or fighting Naruto planned on teaching the three.

Before all that though, Naruto had something else in mind for everyone to learn, "That's enough for now; take a few minutes to get some water and rest. After that, I have a surprise for everyone." With their interests piqued, the seven duelists did as instructed.

A few minutes later found the group of eight seated in a circle with all eyes on Naruto. "First, let me say that I am proud of the progress you each have made so far. We may have only trained together for a short time, but I can already see that each of you will become great in the future. Now, because of everyone's outstanding progress, I have decided you all deserve a reward."

"What kind of reward, Naruto?" asked Syrus, unable to contain his excitement at a gift from the blonde.

"Something that can only be achieved by those who have unlocked their chakra and possess a powerful bond with their cards; I will teach you how to unleash the spirits residing in your decks."

"Wait, you mean like see the duel spirits in our decks? Like what Yugi Moto can do?"

"Precisely Chumley," everyone's eyes, with the exception of Alexis, widened. In the dueling world, those who could see and communicate with the spirits of their cards always rose to be extraordinary duelists. "Let's begin. To unleash your cards' spirits, you must delve deep within yourself and find the bond that links you to your deck. Follow that bond to its source and reach out to the spirits within. Once you feel them respond, use your chakra to complete the bond and free them from the restraints of their cards." Eager to meet their spirit companions, everyone quickly sank into meditation, with the exception of our two favorite blondes.

As everyone meditated, Naruto and Alexis decided to have a mock duel while they waited. "So who do you think will be the first to connect with their spirit companions?" asked Alexis as she studied her hand.

"Chumley," Naruto said without hesitation, "With the training he's been doing, the bond between him and his cards is stronger than everyone else's. It won't take long for him to complete the bond and release his decks spirits…" No sooner had the words left his mouth then did they feel the ground shake slightly. Glancing over towards their rotund friend, the two blondes were greeted with the sight of Chumley surrounded by three beast-type monster spirits. Des Koala and Des Kangaroo were jumping around a wide eyed Chumley in glee, while the massive form of Big Koala sat serenely behind the astonished senior Slifer. "Well damn, that was faster than I thought. So Chum, how's it feel to finally meet your spirit companions?"

"Uhh, it's kind of surreal, you know? I mean, you've told us all about them, but actually meeting the spirits of my own cards is like, totally licious!"

Chuckling, Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah, hearing about something and experiencing it on your own are two completely different things. Get to know your new spirit friends Chum, I have a feeling it will take the others considerably longer to link with their spirit companions." Turning back to Alexis, he flashed a smirk, "Now, I believe it was my turn, wasn't it?"

_With Zane_

Zane opened his eyes to a white expanse that seemed to have no end to it. Nothing could be discerned from the rest, not even the seemingly solid surface he stood on. _'This must be my core. I guess Naruto wasn't kidding when he said that a person's core is the purest part of who they are, untouched and untainted by the outside world.' _As he glanced around, the appearance of a pulsing blue sphere caught the senior obelisk's attention, and with it, an overbearing pressure on his being. _'And that must be my chakra. Man, Naruto told us that the chakra inside our cores would be more potent than the chakra we utilize outside, but I didn't think it would be this overwhelming.'_

Slowly though, the pressure began to lessen until all that was left was a slight tingling on the blunette's skin. Finally able to move around freely again, the eldest Truesdale brother began to move about the white expanse that was his core. It wasn't long before he found something that piqued his curiosity; a stream of chakra that branched off from his core and moved across the expanse. Moving over to the stream of chakra, Zane furrowed his brow as he placed his hand on the surface of the chakra.

'_**Zane,' **_an unknown voice sounded in his mind, startling the normally calm duelist, _**'Hear us Zane, free us.' **_

'_Could that be… the voice of my duel spirit?' _Zane wondered as he looked off in the direction the stream of chakra flowed. _'Guess there's only one way to find out,'_ with that, he took off, running alongside the stream of chakra towards the mysterious voice that called to him.

For an indiscernible amount of time he ran, following his chakra and the voice that became stronger as time passed. _**'Zane,' **_the voice sounded again, though there was something different about it. It no longer sounded like a singular voice, now it seemed as if it were multiple voices speaking as one. _**'Yes Zane, the three of us call to you, for only you can make us one.'**_

'_Make you one? What do you mean?'_

'_**Come to us Zane, and you will know,' **_with that, the voices fell silent. Determined to find his answer, the senior obelisk continued on his way.

It was not long after that that Zane came upon a wondrous sight; a pair of glowing golden gates towered over him, radiating with an ethereal light. Beyond the bars of the gate, three shadowed, serpentine figures rose up and three pairs of shining yellow eyes gazed down on the blunette. _**'Finally, you have come Zane.'**_

"Who are you?" he asked as he walked closer to the gates.

'_**You know who we are Zane; we have been with you for as long as you have dueled.'**_

"Cyber Dragon," the words were but a whisper, yet they carried across the expanse with ease.

'_**Yes Zane,' **_cooed the three dragons, _**'Now please, free us from this cage so that we may grant you our true power.'**_

"How do I free you?"

'_**Your chakra Zane; no matter how imposing it may feel, your chakra is still yours and it will bend to your will. The chakra beside you is what keeps this gate sealed. You must reverse the flow so that it will open the gate and allow us to fully merge our spirits with your deck.'**_

Zane nodded and turned to face the stream of chakra holding the gate closed. Taking a steadying breath, he reached out and placed both hands on the surface of the stream. Instantly, he felt a pulse of pure, unchained power surge through him, nearly launching him across the endless expanse. Through sheer strength of will, he fought against the power trying to push him away. _**'Fight it Zane! Do not let it overwhelm you! Remember, it is still your chakra, you can control it!'**_

'_I won't let this power get the better of me!' _eyes closing in focus, Zane gritted his teeth as he felt the power continue to oppose him. _'This is my chakra! I control it!' _a second surge of power ripped through Zane's core, this time emanating from Zane himself. His eyes snapped open, revealing they were now glowing a deep, vibrant blue. The stream of chakra pulsed once more before receding from the gate, and flowing into Zane. Once the last of the chakra had returned to Zane's body, the gates holding the three Cyber Dragons back opened, freeing the mighty beasts.

'_**You did it Zane!' **_they said in unison once again as they wrapped themselves around the Cyber Duelist. _**'You did it! Finally we can give you our full strength and truly fight alongside you!' **_before the bewildered duelist had a chance to react, the three spirits faded from sight. Zane shook his head to get over the very exuberant way the three dragons had shown their affection for him.

"And I thought Syrus was excitable," he mumbled, though a small smile could be seen on his face. Looking down at his hands, Zane's smile turned into a frown as he concentrated. Chakra erupted from his hands, blazing with the same deep blue hue as his eyes had taken on moments before. _'I'm not sure what it is, but my chakra feels stronger than before. Could it be because the bond with my duel spirits is now complete? I'll have to ask Naruto about this.'_

Allowing his chakra to dissipate, Zane prepared to return to the outside world, only to freeze as more voices reached his ears.

'_**Zane…'**_the ominous voice caused the hairs of the back of said obelisk neck to stand on end. But for reasons he couldn't fathom, the chakra within him seemed to sing when the voice spoke.

"Who's there?" the blunette demanded as he looked around for the source of the voice, eyes hardening into pits of ice. "Show yourself you coward!"

'_**We are here Zane…'**_ spinning around, the senior obelisk was faced with the dark confines that had housed the Cyber Dragon's. _**'Please, you must free us from the darkness. Free us so that we may know true power alongside you.'**_

"Sorry, but I don't take offers from those who hide in shadows. Now show yourself!"

'_**We cannot Zane; the darkness prevents us from revealing ourselves to you. But we are no strangers to you Zane; you have merely forgotten who we are. Look into your past, and remember.'**_

Furrowing his brow, Zane begin thinking back over everything he had done in his life that was related to dueling. A few moments past before his eyes widened in shock as memories of his early duel training surfaced. "It can't be, you're…" Zane began, taking an involuntary step back as the reality of the situation sank in.

'_**Yes Zane; remember. Remember all those years ago, it was we who called to you. But you were not ready then; your power had yet to awaken. Now the time has finally come, you are ready to receive our power and achieve your true potential.' **_From within the inky blackness of the cage, came a gust of wind that forced Zane to brace himself, lest he be blown away. _**'Go Zane! Find us and free us from our prison! Unleash our power and take it as your own!' **_Unable to stand against the increasing force of the wind, Zane felt himself being blown across the expanse, only to fade from sight moments later.

Jolting awake, Zane found himself back in the real world. Around him, his friends were conversing with their now visible duel spirits. Bastion sat with Jasmine, Water Dragon and Fire Dragon coiled around them, while the three Harpie Lady Sister's flew overhead. Upon closer inspection, he could see the chibi form of Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon wrapped in the redhead's arms. Syrus looked awed at the sight of his spirits, while said spirits were running about, enjoying their new freedom.

"Zane?" asked Mindy to the elder Truesdale's right, "You okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, Mindy," he replied, "Releasing my duel spirits was more taxing then I expected is all." Before she could say anything else, rhythmic beeping cut through the clearing. Everyone turned towards the sound, while Zane stood up and walked over to Naruto's home. Digging through the pile of bags, Zane pulled out his PDA and read over the new message. "I have to go. Chancellor Sheppard has requested that I be present for a mandatory faculty meeting. I'll see you all later."

Syrus walked up to Mindy as his older brother left the clearing, "Don't worry Mindy, Zane's always been that way. Give him a day or two and he'll be back to his usual self."

"Thanks Syrus," said the blackette, "I just wish Zane would open up to us a little more. With all the time we've been spending together, you'd think he'd trust us enough to tell us when something's wrong."

"Leave it be Mindy," called Naruto, not having moved from his spot next to Alexis, "Like Syrus said, Zane isn't the type to burden others with his problems needlessly. But he also knows the limits of what he is capable of on his own. If he truly needs our help, he knows that he need only ask, and it will be given." Though she was reluctant to simply let things be, Mindy relented and nodded her acceptance. "Alright, now…"

"Syrus! Hey Syrus, where are you?" an unknown voice echoed from somewhere in the forest.

Everyone turned to the younger Truesdale for an explanation. "Friend of yours Syrus?" inquired Bastion.

It took the fairer haired blunette a minute to respond, trying to put a name to the voice. "It sounds like mine and Chum's new roommate, Blair."

"Blair?"

"Yeah, Blair Flannigan; he just transferred in today. Apparently, he aced his exams and passed his entrance duel with flying colors. Banner has him slated for promotion to Ra Yellow within the week." Said transfer student chose that moment to stumble out of the brush on the group's right. He was garbed in the standard Slifer uniform, though his pants were looser fitting and gave a ballooning effect just above his shoes. A large hat, nearly twice the size of Blair's head covered his hair from view. The young teen was also rather short in stature, being an inch or two shorter than Syrus. What stood out most about him were his surprisingly soft, feminine facial features.

Shaking a few leaves and twigs from his person, the new arrival looked up and finally took notice of the group. "There you are Syrus! I've been looking all over for you!"

"For me? Why's that Blair?"

"Why? Don't you remember? You promised to introduce me to your brother once classes were finished!" said Blair exasperatedly. "Now come on, let's go!"

Silence descended over the group, all of them overwhelmed by the emotion from the young boy. It almost seemed borderline hysteric. Like not meeting Zane was the worst possible thing imaginable.

When Syrus didn't immediately respond, Blair ran over and grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go Syrus! You promised to introduce me, now you're going to introduce me!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible at the moment," said Naruto, coming to his friend's aid. "Zane was just called away for an important faculty meeting. He won't be available for a while."

Blair's face fell faster than a stone in water and her hold on Syrus went slack, freeing the Slifer. "Oh," Blair mumbled, "Fine. But you better introduce us as soon as Zane's finished with that meeting Syrus." With that, the young transfer student left the clearing, leaving a flustered and confused group in his wake.

Bastion coughed into his hand. "Well," he began, "That was… interesting."

"That's putting it mildly," Jasmine said. "What was with that guy anyway? It seemed like he was completely obsessed with your brother Syrus."

"I'm pretty sure he is. As soon as he learned Zane was my brother, he wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to introduce him," said Syrus as he retook his seat.

"It seems Zane has a fan. A rather obsessed one if you ask me," Bastion said as he crossed his arms.

While everyone was talking about Blair, Naruto's brow was furrowed in concentration. _'Something's not right about Blair. The way he acted and the way his emotions shifted so quickly aren't normal, even for an obsessed fan-boy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Blair Flannigan was more girl than boy.'_

Naruto was apparently not the only one who was suspicious of Blair. Alexis had her eyes narrowed slightly and her lips thinned, her tell when she was trying to figure out something that didn't make sense.

Naruto leaned over and whispered, "I take it you also found something off about our new friend?"

"Yeah; his emotions seemed to be all over the place. I've met some really obsessed fan-boys before, but they were never that bad. In fact, Blair seemed to behave…"

"More like a girl, than a boy?" Naruto finished, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"Why though?" she pondered, "If we're right and Blair really is a girl, why would she bother putting on this charade? It's not like the Academy has anything against girls becoming students."

"There's only one way to find out; we need to have a little chat with Blair Flannigan." Rising to his feet drew the rests attention to the blonde, "That's enough for today guys. We'll meet up later for some duel training. Now though, Alexis and I have some business to attend to, we'll see you guys later." Offering a hand to his fellow blonde, Naruto helped Alexis to her feet. With one last wave goodbye, the two headed out in the same direction Blair had gone.

"I wonder what they have to do?" said Syrus.

Jasmine and Mindy shared a look before breaking out into a fit of giggles. "Isn't it obvious?" the redhead asked, "They just wanted to be alone so they could have a private moment." The three males present widened their eyes at that possibility. It hadn't even crossed their minds that Naruto and Alexis could potentially be an item.

_Academy Building- Faculty Room_

"Welcome everyone," said Sheppard, seated at the head of the elongated circular table. "Now then, straight to business; as you are all aware, the annual School Duel with North Academy is fast approaching. Therefore, I feel we should begin discussion about who shall be our representative this year. Are there any nominations?"

"Nominations?" questioned Crowler, sitting opposite Sheppard. "Forgive me Chancellor, but are you out of your mind? The School Duel is the second biggest match of the year! Not to mention the pride of Duel Academy is on the line as well. I feel there is very little discussion to be had. Zane is by far our best," he said, gesturing to the blunette standing by the door on Sheppard's right. "Clearly he should be our representative, as he was last year."

Surprising, as he rarely spoke at these meetings, Banner chimed in. "I agree that Zane is our top duelist, and would no doubt secure victory for Duel Academy; however I have heard a rumor going around."

"What did this rumor say, Professor Banner?" asked Miss Fontaine.

"I have heard that North Academy has opted to select a first year student as their representative this year."

"A freshman? Why on earth would they choose a freshman to represent them in the School Duel?" Crowler shrieked, seemingly scandalized at the mere thought of a freshman in such an illustrious event.

"That's right," Sheppard nodded, "Foster messaged me yesterday and informed me of his decision. So in the spirit of fairness, we shall choose one of our own freshmen to compete; any nominations?"

"Naruto Namikaze," said Zane in that borderline monotonous voice of his, "He is one of the best in the freshmen class. He will do us proud if given the chance."

"You can't be serious?!" Now Crowler was almost hysteric, "That menace in the School Duel? Absolutely not! Have you forgotten what he did to Mr. Rosewood? The poor lad hasn't even recovered yet."

The mode in the room changed instantly. A cold silence permeating the space within the four walls.

"No," spoke Zane, his voice colder than ice, "I haven't forgotten. But it seems you have Dr. Crowler." The man's name was spat with an undercurrent of loathing, "Or did you forget who I sided, and still side with, over that matter?"

The blood drained quickly from the Obelisk Headmaster's face. It seemed that particular detail had slipped his mind.

Backtracking and hoping to steer the conversation away from such volatile ground, Crowler turned to Chancellor Sheppard. "If you insist on honoring the spirit of fairness, then might I suggest Bastion Misawa be our rep? He has the highest marked grades out of the entire freshmen class. Not to mention he is a prodigious and well-rounded duelist. I have even heard that he carries multiple decks with him at any given time."

It appeared that was enough to sway everyone's thoughts back to the matter at hand. All except Zane; who still had his intense gaze leveled on the blonde man. Though, that didn't stop him from analyzing Crowler's proposition with a critical eye. It may have been done in the spur of the moment, but it was a sound argument.

Bastion did in fact have the highest marked grades in his class, and he was an exceptional duelist. The kind of perfect combination many of the teachers looked for. That made Bastion a very appealing candidate in the eyes of the staff. What the teachers were not likely to see however, was what Crowler hoped to potentially occur. By nominating Bastion in opposition to Zane's nomination of Naruto, it would no doubt lead to the only way the school settled debates.

With a duel.

Maybe Zane had just been spending too much time around Naruto, and had been influenced by the blonde's tendency to look at every possible outcome of a situation, no matter how ludicrous some of them were. But it seemed to him, that Crowler was hoping to drive a wedge between Naruto and Bastion by pitting them against one another in such a high profile setting. Too bad for Crowler, that was about as likely as Seto Kaiba willingly admitting that Yugi Moto was better than he was at dueling.

Refocusing on the meeting, Zane found all of the staff murmuring to each other about which of the two boys would be better suited for the task. Sheppard was leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, no doubt mulling over the same question as everyone else.

"Very well," the man said suddenly, silencing the room. "Seeing as both nominations are more than qualified, we will settle this matter with a duel. Tomorrow evening, Naruto and Bastion will duel to decide which shall represent us in the School Duel. Zane," he said, turning to address his top student, "I understand that you are quite close with both Naruto and Bastion, so I will leave informing them of this decision to you."

Zane bowed his head slightly, "Yes Chancellor. I'll inform them before the day is over."

"Good," Sheppard said with nod. "Then I call this meeting to a close. I expect to see all of you at the duel tomorrow."

_Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm_

Blair knelt behind a line of bushes outside of the Obelisk Dorm, watching the comings and goings of the dorms residents. Periodically, she would glance at balcony on the third floor, planning out the best way to access it. Fortunately for her, a branch from one of the taller trees hung almost directly over the balcony. That would be her way in, she decided. Now all that was left was insuring she got in unnoticed and making sure that she wouldn't be disturbed.

Unbeknownst to the young teen, her plans of going unnoticed had already failed. Several yards behind her, perched on a high up branch, were Naruto and Alexis. The two blondes had easily found Blair after leaving their friends and had followed her all the way out to the dorm. "What is she planning?" mumbled Alexis, making sure to keep her voice low so as not to alert Blair.

"Judging from the way she's been eyeing that balcony and tree, I'd say she's looking to sneak into the dorm," Naruto said. "As full hardy as it is, I have to give her some credit. She knows what she's doing."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't explain why she'd risk sneaking into the Obelisk Dorm."

"Take a closer look at the balcony Alexis. There's your answer," said Naruto cryptically. Alexis shot him a mock sideways glare. It always annoyed her when he knew something she didn't and wouldn't just come out and say it. But she knew that he did it for her benefit; she wouldn't learn to see things on her own if he always gave her the answers.

Refocusing on the balcony, she wracked her brain trying to find anything that was familiar about it. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. "That's Zane's room!" she said in a whispered shout, looking to Naruto for confirmation.

"That's right," he said, "It seems that Blair's obsession with Zane is stronger than we originally thought. If she's willing to take this kind of risk, who knows what else she might try in the future."

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"Let's hang back and see what exactly she wants to accomplish with this little stunt. Then we'll move in and confront her."

It was several more minutes before Blair finally made her move. Silently making her way over to the tree she had been eyeing, the young teen quickly scaled it. Being mindful of her balance, she slowly walked out along the branch that hung above Zane's balcony and dropped onto the stone structure. At the same time, Naruto, with Alexis on his back, moved closer to the tree line so that they could better observe Blair.

What they saw, was certainly not what they were expecting. Blair had found Zane's spare deck, and was holding the cards close to her chest; like they were the most precious things in the world.

"Well," Naruto said, "There's something you don't see every day."

"Blair's not obsessed with Zane. She's in love with him," said Alexis, unable to keep her surprise hidden.

Naruto shook his head, "I'm afraid that's where you're wrong Alexis. True, it may seem like Blair is in love with Zane, but that is only because she has convinced herself that that is what it is."

"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"

"I mean, that Blair does not truly love Zane. At least not in the way you're thinking." When Alexis just kept looking at him, Naruto elaborated, "Blair likely greatly admires Zane's, and probably has for a while. She's still young, and likely doesn't understand what it truly means to love someone. So it's possible that she has mistaken that admiration for love, and has convinced herself that Zane must love her back. Sadly, it's something that is rather common in fan girls."

"You sound like you've had experience with this before," Alexis pointed out. "Did you have fan girls like that?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No, I didn't; but a very dear friend of mine, someone I considered a brother, did. I was also friends with one of his fan girls, so I got to see both sides of this kind of ordeal. So believe me when I say, that if this continues, Blair will only end up hurting herself in the long run."

Though he covered it up well, Alexis could see the hurt her fellow blonde felt as he talked about his two friends. Deciding not to pry, she tried to get his mind off of his friends and back on the situation at hand. "Then what should we do? We can't let Blair keep this up if all it's going to do is hurt her."

"We have to make her realize that she doesn't really love Zane, or at the very least, convince her that her reason for coming to Duel Academy is wrong. The second option may not be the best choice, but it would at least be a step in the right direction." It was at that point that Blair emerged from Zane's room, and used the same tree to escape before quickly making her way into the forest. "Let's go, Alexis; best to do this without drawing any unnecessary attention."

With Alexis once again on his back, Naruto followed after Blair, easily keeping up with her. "This is going to be a sensitive conversation, so it would probably be best if you started things off. Blair might take it better if another woman broaches the subject."

"What about you?"

"I'll hang back and watch. If it looks like you're getting through to her, I won't intervene. But if she isn't responsive to you, I'll step in and try a different approach." As he said this, Naruto had put on a burst of speed, slightly startling Alexis as they overtook Blair. Touching down several yards ahead of their target, Naruto set Alexis down. Offering her an encouraging smile, he vanished back into the tree line, leaving Alexis to her task.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she began walking to intercept Blair, safe in the knowledge that Naruto was near. It wasn't long after that Blair appeared through the trees, stopping when she noticed Alexis. "Oh, hey Blair," began Alexis, putting on a kind smile, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Umm, I was just…" she fumbled over her words, trying to come up with a believable excuse. She was so certain that she wouldn't be caught, least of all by the Queen of Obelisk Blue, that she hadn't bothered preparing a story in advance.

Movement behind Blair caught Alexis's attention. Shifting her gaze upwards slightly, she spotted Naruto kneeling on branch a few feet behind Blair. When she met his gaze, he gave her a quick nod. Nodding ever so slightly back to show she understood, Alexis refocused on Blair, who had mumbled some half assed excuse about being lost. "I'm sorry Blair; it can be a little confusing finding your way around these woods. But don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while," she said, "Actually I'm glad I ran into you; there was something I wanted to tell you."

Blair's confusion was plain to see, "Really? What is it?"

"Well Zane's like a big brother to me, and since we're both Obelisk's, I could introduce you to him sooner than Syrus. That is, if you wanted of course."

From his place in the trees, Naruto smirked at Alexis's plan, _'It never ceases to amaze me how clever she is. If this works, Blair will end up giving herself away before she even realizes it.'_

Blair's eyes widened at the offer, before she nodded quickly, "Really? You would? That's great! Thank you so much Alexis!" Said blondes eyes narrowed slightly as Blair's voice slipped towards the end. The tone was not as deep; instead it was softer, and very noticeably feminine. Although it didn't look like the young girl had noticed her slip up as she started talking about how excited she was to finally meet Zane. Taking advantage of that, Alexis broached the subject she came here for.

"Is something wrong with your voice Blair?" she suddenly asked, stopping the younger girls rant instantly.

Blair's eyes widen again, but this time, they reflected fear. "I-I don't," clearing her throat to buy herself a few precious seconds, she came up with a split second excuse. "M-my throats just been b-bothering me lately; I think I might have caught something on the trip over."

"Well we can't have that now can we," Alexis said her kind smile still in place as she walked up to the disguised girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, I'll go with you to see Miss Fontaine. She'll have something that should fix you right up. Besides," she continued, feeling Blair's body tense, "You don't want to meet Zane while you're sick do you?"

Whatever protest Blair might have had was quickly shot down by that. She knew that if she tried to come up with some excuse to not go to the school nurse, it would make her look very suspicious. If she claimed that she was fine, then Alexis would no doubt question her about her voice again, and that was something she couldn't afford. But also, if she tried to dissuade the blonde from taking her to the nurse, Alexis would no doubt insist that it was no trouble, leaving any further protest seeming very hollow.

With no other options available, Blair let herself be led through the forest by the older teen. They travelled in silence for a few minutes, until finally, Alexis decided it was time to put an end to the younger girls charade. "So Blair," she said, noticing the slight flinch from the girl next to her, "Why do you want to meet Zane so badly?"

"Because I lo…" began Blair, only to stop short, realizing what she was about to say. Thinking on the fly again, she tried to make up some kind of believable reason. "Because I look up to him," she said quickly, "I saw him compete in the national tournament once a few years back, and ever since, I've always wanted to be ne… like him."

Alexis's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at Blair catching her slip, but she did well to hide her irritation. It seemed Blair was much more adapt at thinking on her feet and coming up with rather believable lies then she first thought. That meant that catching her in a lie was going to be even more difficult, and she was running out of time, she could already see the spires of the Academy Building over the tree tops.

'_Well, if subtlety isn't working, I guess it's time for a more direct approach,' _Alexis thought, as she flicked her hair over her shoulder, hoping Naruto would get her unspoken message. A blur shooting through the trees on her right showed that he had. She half expected to see her fellow blonde waiting some distance ahead of them, ready to confront Blair. What she wasn't expecting was for a powerful wind to come out of nowhere and hit Blair and herself head on. Bringing her arms up to brace against the wind, Alexis barely heard Blair's shriek of surprise over the wind. Glancing up through squinted eyes, she noticed a blonde streaked blur rush past Blair, knocking the oversized hat off her head and allowing the younger girls long hair to fall freely down her back.

Almost as quickly as it came, the wind was gone, leaving silence in its wake. "You know Blair," Naruto's unmistakable voice sounded through the clearing. The two girls whipped around to see Naruto leaning against a tree, a deck fanned out in front of him. "You can tell a lot about a person from their deck, but I don't need your deck to see that you've been lying to everyone." Folding the fanned out cards back into a deck, the blonde turned his hard gaze on Blair, "The only thing I can't figure out though, is why?"

Blair was unnerved by the intense sapphire eyes that seemed to look into her very soul. Unable to meet the blondes gaze any longer, and terrified at being found out, she turned and attempted to make a run for it, only for a firm hand on her shoulder to stop her short. "Blair," Naruto's voice had gained a hard edge to it, ridding the young girl of any thoughts of escape. "I won't ask again, now please, tell us what this charade is all about. Or we'll be forced to bring this up with the Chancellor."

"NO!" the brunette shouted, "Alright, I'll tell you!" Casting her eyes down on the ground, and knowing that she had no other choice, Blair began her explanation. "I came to Duel Academy to get closer to my true love."

"You mean Zane," said Naruto.

"Yeah," she mumbled with a blush, "Zane. What I told Alexis was true; I did get to see him compete in the national tournament a few years ago. During the final round, Zane had been backed into a corner by his opponent, if he didn't draw the right card, he would lose. But then, just before he drew his card, his eyes met mine. I couldn't hear him, but I read his lips, he said 'This one is for you.'" Blair's eyes had gained a faraway look to them, and her expression had shifted to a dreamy one. "I knew right then and there, we were meant to be together. So when I learned Zane had come to Duel Academy, I wanted to sign up immediately, but I was too young then and they rejected my application. So I trained every day, honing my dueling skills so that when I finally came to Duel Academy, I could join Obelisk Blue and be with Zane. But when I found out I'd have to start in the Slifer Dorm, I knew I wouldn't get many chances to be near him, especially with the dorm policy. So I disguised myself as a boy to make it easier to get into the Obelisk dorm and meet him."

Refocusing on the blonde haired teen standing in front of her, Blair met his gaze with a glare. "So there, now you know why I did everything. Go ahead and report me to the Chancellor, but no matter what you do, you won't keep me from Zane. We're destined to be together!"

Silence answered her proclamation. Alexis was looking at Blair with raised eyebrows, honestly surprised at how far the girl would go for her supposed 'true love.' Naruto merely continued to meet the girls glare with his own blank stare. But then he did something neither girl expected, he chuckled, "Well, I got to say, I've heard some crazy stories before, but yours takes the cake in the stupidity department. I mean really, disguising yourself as a boy to get close to and attract the attention of another boy? That plan would only ever work if the other guy was gay, and I'm pretty sure Zane doesn't swing that way."

"No, I don't." The three duelists turned to see Zane stepping out from behind a tree.

Blair immediately felt a blush creep onto her cheeks, and her heart began to beat in her ears. "Zane… you're here," she whispered, though the other three present easily heard it. With the presence of her 'true love', Blair felt her confidence rise. Turning to the two blondes who had accosted her, a victorious smirk spread across her lips. "Now do you see? We are destined to be together! Zane knew you were harassing me, so he came to my rescue!"

"That's enough Blair," said Zane as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the young teen. The harshness of her 'true loves' voice caught Blair flat footed, and she stumbled in shock for a moment.

"W-What? Zane, I…"

Said blunette sighed, as he knew this was going to be painful for the young teen, but it had to be done. "Blair, as flattered as I am by your affections, the fact remains that I just don't feel the same about you." The brunette had tears forming in the corner of eyes now, "Besides, I don't believe that anyone is destined to be together. Love is not something that can be predetermined; you must work for it with all your heart."

"Wow Zane," said Alexis, a smirk adorning her face, "Never thought I'd hear something like that from you."

Naruto sported a matching smirk, "The more stoic the surface, the more caring the heart is beneath. You're just a big softy inside, aren't you Zane?"

Zane smirked beside himself, though he had to shake his head at the two blondes teasing. "B-but," Blair's soft voice brought everyone's attention back to her, "How can you not feel the same way? All I've ever wanted was for us to fall in love and live happily ever after. That's the whole reason I've trained so hard to get here, so that we could be together. What am I supposed to do now?" she cried, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.

Despite knowing that what they had done was for the best, it didn't lessen the pang of guilt they all felt. Blair looked to be on the verge of an emotional break; her eyes starting to look bloodshot from how hard she was crying. Alexis moved over to the poor girl and knelt down to wrap her in a hug. Whispering soothing words to the distraught girl, the Queen of Obelisk Blue looked up to the two males, silently asking what they should do now. Naruto looked pensive, obviously trying to figure that out himself.

It was Zane however, that offered the solution. "Blair," said girl looked up at the man who had just brought reality crashing down on her, her eyes pleading. "I know it hurts now, but the pain will eventually pass. You say your purpose for dueling was so that you could fulfill your fantasies and now without that you don't know what to do? The answer should be obvious."

"Wh-what do you m-mean?"

"You must find another reason to duel. Right now, your heart feels as though there is a hole in it. By finding a new purpose for dueling, you will take the first steps to filling that hole in your heart." Blair's expression became thoughtful as she thought over the blunette's words, while Zane turned to Naruto, "And I know just the thing to help you; watching two of the best duelist on the island go head to head. Naruto," said blonde quirked an eyebrow, a small smirk playing at his lips. "That faculty meeting earlier today, it was to discuss who would be Duel Academy's representative for the upcoming School Duel. It was decided that you and Bastion would have a duel off to determine which of you would serve as the rep."

"So Bastion and I finally get to have our big showdown huh? And in front of the whole school no less," the small smirk steadily grew into one of his patented foxy smirks, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I figured you say that. It's scheduled for tomorrow evening in the main arena."

"Then I best start getting ready, Bastion already has a head start on me." He then turned to his fellow blonde, "Alexis, I leave Blair in your capable hands. I'll see you all tomorrow at the duel." With that he turned and made his way deeper into the forest, in the direction of his home.

Smiling as she watched her crushes retreating form, Alexis turned to Blair, who she still had wrapped in a hug. "Come on Blair," she said, drawing the younger teen's attention, "You can stay in my dorm for tonight. I can only imagine what it must feel like trying to bunk with all the guys in Slifer." She finished with a small giggle. Even with everything that had happened this evening, Blair still managed a grateful smile at Alexis' offer.

"Thank you, Alexis," she said softly.

**There you have it. Hope you all enjoyed it, and please leave a review! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to answer them. Also, I am no longer accepting deck ideas, I have already received quite a few and I am working on trying to incorporate them into the story.**

**Till next time!**

**BSW**


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